Health Insurance, is the cost worth it to you?

Over the last few months I have noticed health care to be a really hot topic, especially with POTUS making it his legacy legislation to pass a huge health care bill. I have seen many blogs, websites, social networking sites and  friends emails discussing the rising cost in health care and health insurance. My question to you is: Is the cost of health insurance worth it?

With the rising costs of medical care, it seems to me the logical answer is yes, health insurance is worth it. But that is just my opinion and I know many people have a totally different view of this issue. Many people say they cannot afford health insurance at all, that the cost is just too exorbitant. Many people still do not have insurance through their jobs or cannot afford to pay the costs out of their checks.

In my case I say health insurance is worth it because the $500 a month we have taken out of our paycheck for our family of 4 is a bargain compared to what the costs of health care would have been over the last few years. With the birth of 2 children, 2 emergency room visits for injuries (daughter fell on the school playground), and then my son being hospitalized twice for asthmatic pneumonia, the hospital bills without insurance would have buried us in debt. Not to mention the weekly shots for my sons asthma which are totally covered by our insurance, no telling what they would cost but I guarantee they would be more than what we pay for insurance.

As a family we do go without some luxuries to have health care but to us it is worth it. I do not have to have a brand new car, or the latest technology but the money spent on insurance to me is worth it. I have had many people tell me that they just cannot afford health insurance or that their portion through work is just too high to pay and then in their next breath tell me about the vacation they just took or the new high tech toy they just bought which tells me that their priorities are different then mine.

I think many people need to take a look at their own selves before they complain about the cost of health care or the cost of insurance, they need to look at spending habits, if they have options they have not explored, if their habits are causing their health issues that they need covered, or if they actually have the right to complain as none of the above are in their control. I have seen people who are two pack a day smokers complaining that their medical costs are killing them but they don't think the $6 a day they spend on cigarettes is an issue since it is something they want, or the guy driving the brand new sports car with $700 a month payments not having coverage because he has to pay for the new car. If you only visit the doc once a year then no you probably do not need to be paying for insurance, if you are someone who gets sick often, has known medical issues, or a family history of bad health then yeah you should probably have insurance, and if you are saying you cannot afford it but you just renewed your monthly subscription to WOW or just bought the new COD BO (Call of Duty Black OPS) then you should probably take a look at your priorities and stop whining about how you can't afford medical insurance and look for affordable options. Spend more time on caring for yourself then keeping up with the Joneses.