Essay on Effects of Inadequate Medical Insurance

Thesis statement: Lack of medical insurance have adverse effects on an individuals health. These effects are lack of preventive health services in diseases such as diabetes and cancer, underinsured people do not follow treatments that doctors recommend for them and this leads to poor health. Poor growth and development among the children is also an effect of inadequate insurance.

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Medical insurance is a cover against the risk of high health care expenditures by individuals. This is done by paying health care companies monthly premiums so that they cover the medical expenses. The main purpose of medical insurance is to help one pay for care. There are various reasons why individuals pay for health insurance; First, to prepare for the unexpected illness, because nobody knows when he or she will require medical attention. The other reason is to prevent against illness, so as to stay healthy and achieve the best health outcomes (Shi & Singh, 2014). There are various causes why people lack adequate medical cover; medical insurance covers are very expensive hence not everyone can afford them. Another cause is that many workers do not benefit from employer based insurance. Lack of adequate medical insurance is a major problem facing many people because they lack comprehensive and quality access to healthcare services and lead to deleterious consequences on individuals health. It increases severity of illness because of unmet health needs. An individual with inadequate health insurance face difficulties in receiving appropriate health attention. This essay will discuss the causes of lack of adequate medical cover and the effects to people health.

There are several causes of low medical coverage among individuals. Cost is a major reason for inadequate health cover. According to a recent study done by The Institute of Medicine (IOM) on health insurance, high cost of medical cover make many not to afford it and therefore remain underinsured. It is too expensive for people to afford purchasing private insurance and the monthly premiums which costs almost 50% of what the middle and low-income households earn. This reduces their access to health care (IOM, 2004). The other cause is that people encounter enrollment barriers. There are lengthy procedures of medical insurance applications. These make people to get tired of spending their time and money on these procedures. People are not aware of available options of coverage, and also the requirements for application (Simpson, 2004). Lastly, people who work at firms and institutions with no health cover lack enough healthcare insurance.

Results of lack of adequate medical insurance are very severe. They include the following;

Lack of preventive health services

There are some health problems which are silent, for instance diabetes and hypertension. These diseases require regular check-ups because they are hard detect. An individual with inadequate health cover do not go for routine diagnosis hence they do not receive preventive care against chronic diseases such as cancer. This lowers their health quality leading to early deaths.

Many underinsured people do not follow treatments that doctors recommend for them.

They cannot afford to buy the prescribed drugs because they do not have insurance to pay for it. People who after diagnosis, are found with a chronic illness that need regular screening and check-ups do not afford for them and hence their health quality becomes poor. This also decreases their life expectancy. Individuals with inadequate health cover are unlikely to obtain treatment that they need. They do not get proper prescription drugs due to cost and also they postpone their therapeutic and diagnostic services leading to poor health. (Heisler, Langa,& Piette, 2004).

Poor growth and development among the children

A child whose parents or guardians cannot afford adequate health insurance suffers from stunted growth. This is because he or she does not to receive timely medical attention and also proper monitoring during their growth and development. The children are more likely to lack a source of care, have unmet health needs and also delay in getting care. They also suffer from common childhood diseases such as, pneumonia and other injuries but do not receive proper medications.

In conclusion, individuals with inadequate medical care are unable to get preventive services, they also face delays in receiving medical care which leads to poor health and as a result, this leads to low life expectancy, low quality of life, serious diseases which are not detected at an early stage leads to death.

References

Shi, L., & Singh, D. A. (2014). Delivering health care in America. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Simpson,Joanne T. (2004). Barriersto Accessing Health Insurance Coverage: Findings from Focus Groups and Surveys with Wisconsin Residents, Citizen Input. Wisconsin StatePlanning Grant http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/medicaid8/state-grant/Citizen-Input.ppt.

IOM(Institute of Medicine,Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance) (2004). Insuring Americas Health: Principles and Recommendations. National Academic Press.

Krugman, P. (2004). Health Versus Wealth. New York Times.

Heisler, M., Langa, K. M., Eby, E. L., Fendrick, A. M., Kabeto, M. U., & Piette, J. D. (2004). The health effects of restricting prescription medication use because of cost. Medical care, 42(7), 6