You Can Keep Your Children Healthier and Reduce Your Healthcare CostsThere are many easy ways to keep your children healthier. There is no doubt that having access to affordable health insurance improves the health of a child. Study after study has shown that children in families with health insurance are healthier, do not put off or postpone necessary healthcare, and even do better in schools. Yet if you do not have access to health insurance, or have limited health insurance and/or a limited healthcare budget, medical experts agree there are many ways to improve and maintain your child’s health, and in effect reduce your medical bills. All states have laws that require children to wear bike helmets and of course use car seats and safety belts, yet many parents do not insist that children wear their helmets when riding their bikes or worse, don’t enforce buckling up in the car. Preventing injuries by following safety rules saves live and saves money. Monitor your child’s behavior, and teach them the right choices for a healthy lifestyle. Prevent overeating, limit soft drinks and junk foods, and discourage experimentation with smoking and drugs. You will have a happier healthier child, and reduced medical bills. Getting back to affordable medical coverage, your child may qualify for state sponsored no-cost or low-cost health insurance and you may not even know it. Studies have shown that thousands of the uninsured children in the country actually qualify for state sponsored health insurance programs and have failed to enroll, simply because their parents were not aware that they are eligible. Check with your state’s Department of Children and Families for eligibility requirements; you may be pleasantly surprised. Even if you have medical coverage your health insurance may not cover your child for wellness visits or necessary vaccinations. Try to discuss this with your employer or health benefits adviser, and see if you can get this coverage included in your health plan. If you cannot, still do not let your child go without necessary vaccinations or wellness visits and dental checkups. It may be difficult to pay for these expense out of pocket if you are on a limited budget, but not doing them can cost you much more later on, not only in terms of dollars, but more importantly, in terms of your child’s health. 1 CommentLeave a comment |
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Hi. Is it possible to get individual health insurance for children only? We are looking for some affordable health care for our two sons who are both very active and play sports. Basically we would like to get some affordable health care so we can take them to the doctor if, God forbid, something should happen to them. We are both working and have health insurance through our jobs, but it’s very expensive to add children to the plan, since the companies we work for are small. Do you have any specific recommendations for us? We live in the state of Texas, if that makes a difference. We have also heard that there are some non-profit organizations out there that offer some support for families without health insurance for their children. Do you know how to find them? I am not sure we qualify for any state sponsored health insurance as we probably make to much money between the two of us.
Comment by Consuelo — June 9, 2009 @ 12:45 pm