The Necessity of Health Insurance
It is believed that Health Insurance first came into being in early 18 th century England and was developed by Hugh the Elder Chamberlen. At that point, it more closely resembled disability insurance as was mostly geared towards emergency treatment of workers to avoid the loss of manual labor. Through the Industrial Revolution, it became clear to workers and their employers that preventative medicine was far more effective than simply trying to heal injuries that had already occurred. Accordingly, health insurance as we know evolved and covered doctors visits, check-ups, some prescription drugs and hospital stays.
Health care costs are among the most expensive things that a person today might need to pay for. While this is nothing new, as of late the prices of treatments for serious illnesses, as well as emergency room visits and simple annual visits to a general practitioner have shot up. There are very few people in this country wealthy enough to be able to pay for even the most basic preventative medicine and not see a large chunk of their income disappear. In order to afford proper care for whatever condition might arise, the majority of the cost must come from an external source.
What many people do not realize about medical coverage is that in the case of very serious illnesses requiring a great deal of care, such as cancer and strokes, much of the cost comes from things other than the treatment itself. When pricing care for these conditions, one might not think them very expensive. However, when a bill comes that includes a prolonged stay at a hospital and physical therapy as well as other extraneous costs, you might regret not insuring yourself.
This data that the U.S. Census has compiled has some interesting information about health insurance.