This discussion about health care costs has been sponsored by Aflac and Mom Central Consulting but all opinions are my own.
Health care costs are on the rise and with people sometimes struggling to make ends meat, many families are choosing to cut corners on their insurance and medical needs. I work as a pharmacy technician and every day my patients come to me and ask how to save money on their prescriptions. They look at the copay that their insurance company charges them and wonder why it is so high. Inevitably, they ask “How much would this medicine cost without my insurance?”. They are usually shocked when I tell them that the prescription medicine they are paying $30.00 with insurance for would cost them hundreds of dollars if they didn’t have their insurance plan. Often times, people don’t realize that health care costs could bankrupt them completely if they didn’t have insurance!
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If you think the price of your prescription medicine is bad, just consider what the health care costs associated with an accident or severe injury would be! A trip to the hospital could cost thousands if you do not have the proper insurance. Aflac want to help people gain a better understanding of the true consequences of health care costs without medical insurance. The Aflac Real Cost Calculator is designed to help show you the health care costs associated with an assortment of different scenarios. The Real Cost Calculator is an interactive tool designed to show potential out-of-pocket medical costs and household expenses in just three simple steps. Serious medical conditions like cancer or stroke can result in thousands of dollars in unexpected out-of-pocket medical costs and expenses. Not to mention that if you are seriously ill and can’t work, you have no income to pay for your mortgage, car payment or even groceries!
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How does this health care costs calculator work?
The Aflac Real Cost Calculator incorporates data from numerous national public sources to show the average costs of a variety of medical conditions. I played around a little bit with it myself just to see what sort of scenarios it provided me with.
1. If my oh so clumsy child happened to fall and break a leg, I would be out $11,678.
2. If my husband or I had a hear attack we would own the hospital a whopping $12,621. That number alone is enough to give anyone a heart attack!
3. If one of my family member was diagnosed with Diabetes, we would be out $17,448. And that doesn’t include the cost of a lifetime of medicine!
Kids get sick a LOT. They can be clumsy and have accidents. As adults, we can suffer from a range of illnesses and diseases that could be very minor or could be life threatening. When someone in our family gets sick, we should not have to stop and ask ourselves if we can ‘afford’ to go to the doctor. When we go to pick up our prescriptions we shouldn’t have to leave them behind because we don’t have enough money to pay for them. We should not have to lose our homes because health care costs get too out of control for us to afford the mortgage.
Health Care Costs
You do not need to be an Aflac customer to use their Real Cost Calculator. Keep in mind that medical debt is the most common cause of bankruptcy in this country! By understanding the real costs and expenses associated with health care, individuals and families have the power to better financially prepare themselves. Your insurance may not pay as much as you think. And hospital bills aren’t the only expense you need to worry about. Deductibles, copays, child care, car payments….this list of unexpected health care costs goes on and on! If you want to get a better handle in this concept, go to Aflac.com/Real Cost to test the new calculator and see how Aflac helps offset the real health care costs of an illness or injury.
Disclaimer: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Aflac. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
Healthcare prices are so expensive, it really pays to have insurance.
Prescription prices are really unbelievable. Unexpected health issues can totally wipe you out.
Our prescriptions cost an arm and a leg even WITH health insurance…I couldn’t even imagine if we didn’t have it!
I’m so thankful we have insurance. The cost calculator sounds like a fun tool but the results are scary!
I agree that insurance is super expensive. It’s sad that healthcare is so expensive and so many people have a tough time with this. We have insurance and it is still expensive to us to pay our deductible and co-pays.
I’m most concerned about all the extra tax our family will be paying next year since we’re on a supposed “Cadillac plan” and the “extra benefit” that we supposedly receive but don’t even USE is going to be considered income for us. THANKS, Obamacare!
I always feel bad for people who come into my pharmacy with no insurance. No matter how much I hate the high cost of health care, I am very grateful that my husband’s employer offers it.