Surviving Without A Health Insurance

In most nations of the world, a majority of the people who enjoy health insurance coverage enjoy it as an employment perk, where an employer – either out of a desire to 'give the best to their employees' or out of legal compulsion – provides health insurance coverage to their employees. This is a great arrangement, because employees enjoy what are typically quite good levels of health insurance coverage – as long as they hold their jobs. The problem is, of course that once someone loses their job, they instantly lose their health insurance coverage.

Now as world economic crisis continues to unravel, more and more people are finding themselves losing their jobs, and with them, their employer-provided health insurance coverage. Naturally, these are people who have to learn how to cope without health insurance, because even if they are to purchase their own health insurance (and this is hard without a proper income), or to get another job with health insurance benefits, it would typically still be some time before the new coverage can take effect.

Now in spite of the privatization of the healthcare system eons ago, there remains a considerable number of low cost (or zero cost) healthcare facilities – like the so-called community health centers; and it is by maximizing on these that one gets access to one of the best ways to cope with life without health insurance coverage. Granted, these low cost (or zero-cost) healthcare facilities might not offer the most comprehensive of services, but for 'small ailments' that one would have to pay for personally (given that they don't have health insurance), these are facilities one can make use of.

If one happens to lose their health insurance coverage, and they are eligible for the various government initiatives aimed at providing some level of health insurance coverage for the uninsured people who are also financially vulnerable like Medicaid, then applying for them is something they should consider. Applying for these, if one qualifies for them, is nothing to be ashamed of. It does not make one a 'beggar' as many people are made to feel, because these initiatives are funded with money from the government coffers, into which we are all contributors.

If you happen to be hit with an expensive that you simply cannot afford to finance, consider applying for the various 'assistance programs' that pharmaceutical companies run to help people who happen to be 'laden' with prescriptions they cannot cope with, financially. You might, with some luck, qualify for one, and have your prescription filled 'bill-free' or at highly subsidized rates.

Taking up short term health insurance costs (whose prices are typically not very high) and putting your kids into a state-provided 'health insurance for kids' program, too, are measures you can take to ensure that you and your family continue to enjoy reasonably good healthcare, even as you try to find a way of getting a more 'reliable' health insurance coverage plan as your circumstances (hopefully) improve.

The author has written an article about health insurance for students at his site get cheap health insurance.