Most people understand that for a lot of different reasons, the health insurance system in the United States is unique when compared to the rest of the world. We’re not going to delve into the specifics as to why here, but what’s relevant for this discussion is the fact that too many people seem to think of this type of coverage as merely a cost that needs to be paid instead of something that is theirs to use. Mental health insurance in particular is something that more people need to take advantage of these days, and we’re going to explain why below.
Yes, There Are Too Many People Without Insurance, But…
We’ve all heard for years that there are too many people in the United States who do not have health insurance, and that’s true, especially when compared to other developed countries around the world where basically everyone has healthcare at their disposal. These days, the number of people who are uninsured numbers around 30 million.
That said, according to the Congressional Research Service, nearly 91 percent of the people in the United States, or approximately 293 million people specifically, had some form of health insurance in 2019. Of those 293 million people, 221 million either had private group health insurance or non-group health insurance. Those remaining had coverage from some type of public provider.
You’re Paying For Your Own Protection
The bottom line, then, is that more than 220 million people in the United States were paying for health insurance in 2019. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average annual health insurance premiums for individuals in 2019 was $7,188. For families, the average annual cost was $20,576.
How these health insurance premiums are paid differs widely, of course, as it depends largely on whether or not a policyholder is enjoying coverage from employer-subsidized insurance or he or she is paying for his or her own individual or family coverage. Regardless, according to the Insurance Information Institute, direct health insurance premiums totaled approximately $1.1 trillion in the United States in 2020. Yes, that’s trillionwith a “t.”
Mental Health Insurance Coverage Is There For You
As we’ve covered recently, most coverage plans these days do provide for mental health insurance protection. However, that doesn’t mean that all mental health insurance coverage is necessarily adequate mental health insurance coverage, so we’ve been advising people to at least dig into this detail with their insurance providers to find out what is covered and to add mental health insurance coverage protection to those policies that lack basics.
As we’ve also discussed recently, the need for mental health insurance coverage has never been greater, as we are in the midst of what many are calling a budding mental health pandemic. Tens of millions of people are suffering from some sort of mental health challenge, and that number is likely to only continue to rise according to most experts. If this includes you or someone you love, we hope you’ll understand that you are very far from alone.
You’ve Been Paying In For Years
These days, young people can remain on their parents’ health insurance plan until they are 26 years old. That means that, even if you’re 26 or 27, you’ve still been paying into the system for decades, whether those payments have actually been coming out of your pocket or not. As seen above, that all adds up to an enormous amount of money, both individually and collectively. Not to mention, health insurance premium costs seem to rise every year, and you can take a look at more details here as provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Cash In Your Investment
You pay your health insurance provider to protect you in case something goes wrong. Those situations can include problems with your physical health or your mental health. You’ve spent thousands of dollars per year on health insurance coverage. If you’re suffering mentally and you’re concerned about whether or not you should make use of your mental health insurance coverage, the clear and obvious answer should be, “Yes!”
Health insurance policies are contracts. You agree to pay the premiums – whether it’s completely from your pocket or partially subsidized by your employer – and your provider agrees to pay its portion of healthcare costs if or when problems arise. It works both ways, and if you’re a policyholder, it may be helpful to be reminded that you’re completely within your rights to expect mental health insurance coverage to protect you if you face one or more of these types of medical problems.
SoCal Empowered Can Help
If you’re facing a mental health challenge, it may be best to simply contact the team of professionals at SoCal Empowered. We work with policy providers from across the board, and we’ll even work with them directly to find out what types of mental health insurance benefits are present in your policy. That way, you get to completely understand what’s involved with costs before you ever come to stay with us.
As an inpatient Orange County mental healthcare provider, we do whatever we can to help you make the right decision on how to get the help you need, even if that means working with someone other than us. In addition, we do whatever is possible to make sure that those who do work with us arrive at our facility with as clear a mind as possible, totally focused on getting ahead of the challenges they face and learning how to cope with them after their stay with us is complete.
Your mental health insurance coverage is yours to use. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you make that happen so you can get back to the happy and healthy life that you and everyone else deserves.
