Universal health care is supposed to be a human right, but instead, it has become a privilege that not everyone can enjoy. This is mainly because basic healthcare services have been commodified so much that most people can no longer afford to get the medical and professional help they need.
Many people around the world have no access to basic healthcare services, let alone health coverage, which is why anyone who has one is considered fortunate. So instead of putting their health as only secondary to their other responsibilities, they can put themselves as their topmost priority.
Even with the most basic coverage, having health insurance is better than not having one at all. This is because if your health is insured, then you won’t have to postpone getting the treatment you need to fight against a serious chronic illness or recover from a debilitating injury. You can just go and get it.
Much like life insurance, your health insurance is something you should have but hopefully wouldn’t need. But when the time comes that you do need it, at least it’s ready to be used. Here are three benefits that you can enjoy by having basic healthcare coverage:
Make Health and Wellness Your Topmost Priorities
People don’t get sick or get into accidents on a schedule. These almost always happen out of the blue. And that uncertainty is what having health coverage can protect you from. This is because if you don’t have health coverage, you’ll be worried sick about where to get money to pay for your hospitalization instead of just focusing on your recovery.
It could also force you to forego treatment because you would rather put food on the table than pay for expensive treatments and medications. But with basic health coverage, it could at least reduce the total amount that you’ll have to pay for so that you won’t have to worry yourself sick because of money.
Health insurance won’t solve all your healthcare problems nor cover all the expenses you’ll accumulate over time, but it may be able to lessen the burden by a lot. And at this point, any help that you get is worth taking if it means you can put your health and wellness as your topmost priorities.
Stop Worrying About the Costs of Healthcare Services
In a parallel universe, everybody can just get the treatments and medications they need without worrying about how to pay for the services. Here, everybody can stay healthy and live happy lives because they can have access to basic healthcare services whenever they need them. But sadly, you’re not in a parallel universe.
And the best remedy to this problem is to have health insurance so that you won’t have to worry about the high healthcare costs. For instance, you’re experiencing pain around your knee, and your doctor told you that it’s osteoarthritis. To manage that pain and recover your full mobility, you’ll need to wear unloader knee braces for additional support.
However, these braces can be pretty expensive, which means even though they’re necessary for healing and pain relief, most people might opt out of them because of the high costs. But if you had insurance, you wouldn’t have to worry about the costs because your healthcare provider could cover them.
Have Access to Preventive Medicine and Health Care
Because most people don’t have easy access to basic healthcare services, they don’t notice that something’s wrong with their bodies until it’s too late. Or, if they do notice that they have grown weaker, they tend to brush the symptoms off with over-the-counter medication and hope that they go away on their own.
However, this can lead to the eventual worsening of a serious condition that has been left unaddressed. And when they finally go to the doctor to ask what’s wrong with their bodies, it might already be too late to undergo treatment or do anything about it. But you can avoid all these if you have health coverage.
That’s because you can consult your physician about the symptoms and conditions that you’re feeling regularly. You won’t have to wait until the last possible moment just to get a check-up, which means there’s a big chance that any illness or condition you have can be treated because of an early diagnosis.
By simply having basic health coverage, you can enjoy what is known as preventive health care. Aside from diagnosing serious health conditions before they become major problems, you can also have access to immunizations, flu shots, cancer screenings, regular check-ups, and even consults if you need them.
Having health insurance is not a prerequisite to living, but it can make your life more bearable and secure if you have one. If you’re still hesitant about the benefits that you will have access to once you get insured, just think of it as a personal investment in your health and future.
