Can I Purchase Hospital Insurance Only?

Posted in Health Insurance , Hospital Care Only

February 24th, 2009

When it comes to health insurance, if you’re paying for it out of your own pocket – that is, you aren’t getting it as a benefit through your employer – you know how much it costs, and how it adds up to a serious percentage of your income.

Health insurance is a major expense. Given that, and the fact that everyone is trying to save money wherever they can, you may be tempted to buy hospital insurance only, in order to cover you during a worst-case medical emergency.

Although you are able to purchase hospital insurance only by speaking with a health insurance broker, it’s usually not recommended. By purchasing hospital insurance only, and foregoing medical insurance, you will be covering yourself for big-ticket expenses, like extended hospital stays that can literally wipe out your savings – but you won’t be covered for medical bills that are also very expensive.

Hospital Insurance as an Addition, Not a Replacement

Under ideal circumstances, we would all have both hospital insurance and medical insurance. That way, we’d be protected from the high costs of medical treatment in the United States. But ideal circumstances are few and far between, and sometimes we have to choose.

If you choose to buy hospital insurance only – and many health insurance companies won’t let you buy it separately from medical insurance – then you’re running the risk of thousands of dollars in bills should you need expensive medical treatment, such as chemotherapy.

If you’re purchasing hospital insurance only because you’re trying to save money, it may not make sense, given how much you could end up spending because you don’t have medical insurance. However, if you’re choosing hospital insurance only because you can’t afford medical insurance, it’s better than no coverage.

To learn more about purchasing hospital insurance and other kinds of health care coverage, be sure to speak to a health insurance industry professional.

>>> Read Part Three of our Understanding Hospital Care Insurance Series: What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Hospital Insurance?
>>> See our whole Understanding Hospital Care Insurance series