Preparing For The Unexpected

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Aflac. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

I moved to Chicago in 2000.  Bill had graduated from college.  He had a job here that he had just started.  We had moved in together.  I had just found a job and had just started.  Then, the unthinkable happened.  Bill got sick.  We aren’t talking about a little bit sick.  We are talking about in the hospital for 7 days sick.  What did he have?  Food poisoning!  I totally understand how people can die from food poisoning for as sick as Bill got.  He was a healthy 23 year old.  The food poisoning caused his entire digestive track to be covered with ulcers.  We were told at the time that they had never seen anybody be covered in ulcers like that.  Now, remember, I just moved here.  I knew nobody.  I just started a job.  Then we were told that Bill couldn’t go back to work for 8 weeks.  Yes, 2 months without a paycheck if we wouldn’t have had short term disability insurance.

When you are 23, you don’t think you are going to get sick.  You don’t think that you are going to have over $30,000 in medical bills.  You don’t think you are going to be missing work for 2 months.  Heck, I’m well over 30 now, and you don’t think that stuff is going to happen.Did you know that medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy?  My aunt and uncle had to file medical bankrupcy both times my cousin got cancer. Without understanding the real cost of health care, consumers could face staggering, unexpected medical costs and living expenses.  Common illnesses and injuries can result in thousands of dollars in unexpected out-of-pocket medical costs and living expenses, and medical conditions like cancer and stroke can rack up.

The Aflac Real Cost Calculator (RCC) is an illustrative, interactive tool that shows the average out-of-pocket expenses associated with a number of injuries and illnesses.  Many people don’t know what their package includes or to what extent they will be covered in the event of common accidents and illnesses.  Consumers may think they are covered by their major medical insurance – but often, they’re not. The Aflac RCC was developed to show the health care costs that major medical insurance doesn’t cover.  The calculator specifically includes the medical costs and living expenses not covered by major medical insurance for several types of cancer, stroke, heart attack, diabetes, broken leg, as well as common childhood ailments, pneumonia and asthma.  The RCC tool incorporates cost data from numerous sources, including governmental and public health organizations, health care providers, etc.

Nobody ever thinks they are going to get sick or injured.  However, it happens.  We’ve lived it and I thank our lucky stars that we had insurance to get through that time.  It is something that all families need to look into!