This post may contain affiliate links which may compensate us based on your interaction. Please read the disclosures for more information.
Are you making the most of your health insurance? Read on to see why you might be passing up an important opportunity to tend to your health.
Healthcare is an expense that can eat into your savings account balance at any age. So if you have health insurance, it’s a good idea to take advantage of any free benefit you might be entitled to.
It’s common for health insurance companies to offer enrollees one free physical or wellness exam per year. In this context, “free” means an exam that isn’t subject to a copay or a deductible. By contrast, when you see the doctor for a sore throat, you usually have to pay into your deductible, and if you’ve met it, there’s often a copay involved for treatment.
During a physical or wellness exam, a doctor will commonly run bloodwork to make sure nothing is amiss, check for signs of physical illness, and ask questions to potentially uncover lurking medical issues. To put it another way, these annual exams tend to be pretty comprehensive, and they have the potential to flag a host of health issues.
But in a recent survey by HSA Bank, only 58% of respondents say they participate in an annual exam. This means 42% of Americans may be missing out on a crucial health benefit.
Don’t put your health at risk
There’s a reason health insurers offer a free annual physical. They want enrollees to get ahead of health issues before they escalate. And often, having an annual exam is the ticket to doing just that.
Let’s say your blood work reveals that you’re pre-diabetic. From there, your doctor can work with you to manage your condition so it doesn’t worsen. But if you don’t have that exam and get that blood work, you won’t know to take action.
This is just one example. The point, though, is that catching health issues early can often lead to better outcomes. So it pays to schedule an annual physical if you haven’t done so this year.
Don’t rack up a huge pile of bills
Health insurers don’t just offer a free annual exam out of the goodness of their hearts. These companies are in the business of trying to spend as little as possible on healthcare to pad their bottom lines. It can be cheaper for health insurers to screen for certain conditions and treat them in their early stages rather than let them worsen.
Once health issues escalate, they can become more expensive to treat not just for your insurer, but for you as well. Remember, even once you meet your annual deductible, you may be still responsible for copays and/or coinsurance, which can really add up.
It’s in your best financial interest to have an annual physical. Doing so could potentially save you money on treatment that’s deemed necessary based on what your doctor finds and help you avoid medical debt.
There aren’t many benefits that health insurers offer for free. So it pays to take advantage of your annual physical or wellness exam, since the only thing it’ll cost you is a bit of your time. And by carving an hour or so out of your schedule, you might spare yourself a string of costly bills while protecting your health at the same time.
Alert: highest cash back card we’ve seen now has 0% intro APR until nearly 2025
If you’re using the wrong credit or debit card, it could be costing you serious money. Our experts love this top pick, which features a 0% intro APR for 15 months, an insane cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee.
In fact, this card is so good that our experts even use it personally. Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.
We’re firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers.
The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.