Health insurance has long been a controversial topic. In the developed countries of the world, health care is primarily the government’s concern. The people in general get better health care services than in the developing countries. In the United States, people are generally covered by the public health care system. Still, they have better chances of getting better health care if they have additional health insurance to cover them.
Based on results of a new research, those who are not insured will end up spending more OR getting less health care. The Washington Post reports:
In a report appearing in Monday’s online edition ofHealth Affairs, Jack Hadley, of George Mason University, and John Holahan, Teresa Coughlin and Dawn Miller, of the Urban Institute, analyzed data on medical spending in people who are insured versus those who are uninsured.
They found that people uninsured for any part of 2008 receive about half as much care as those who are fully insured. A person who is uninsured all year will average $1,686 in medical costs, while someone who is privately insured will average $3,915.
“The uninsured receive a lot less care than the insured, and they pay a greater percentage of it out of pocket. Contrary to popular myth, they are not all free riders,” study author Hadley, a senior health services researcher at George Mason, said in a news release from the journal.
The moral to story is simple: it is better to get medical insurance. Reality check: is your health insurance enough to cover your needs?
Originally posted on August 27, 2008 @ 11:03 am