Why Single Mothers Need a Supplemental Insurance
0 Comentarios
There are few people as vulnerable as single parents, especially single mothers. Number of children living only with their mothers has doubled in past 50 years, according to the US Census.
These mothers have to face the challenge of getting by with one or more children by themselves, many times without the help of anyone at all. Their courage and strength match the enormous risk they take on: facing a health problem, a single mother may find herself without financial resources or sufficient coverage. That is why single mothers make up one of the groups that most needs supplemental health insurance.
In this article, we will tell you everything the single mothers need to know and why they need to purchase supplemental health insurance.
Why Single Mothers Need Supplemental Health Insurance: Table of Contents
The Adventure of Raising Your Children Alone
More and more mothers are deciding to raise their children alone, often because they are separated from the fathers or the fathers have died or abandoned the family. Others simply prefer to take on the challenge of providing for their children on their own.
The fact is that in 2019, there were around 15.49 million families with a female householder and no spouse present in the United States.
In addition, many of them were very young: almost two-thirds of these single mothers were under 30 years old. This data is indicative of deep social change that is transforming the American family unit. Currently, about 23% of children under 18, more than 17 million boys and girls, have grown up without a father and only a mother. In comparison, the amount of children that grow up with only a father is quite small, so we can say that single parenting is primarily a female phenomenon.
In 2020, there were around 15.49 million families with a female householder and no spouse present in the United States.
Women who fight to provide for their children alone tend to be very vulnerable. Many are facing financial difficulties and have barely enough resources to confront a difficult situation. Data show that the average income for single mothers is around $35,400 annually, a much lower quantity than the average income for couples.
In addition, family support is sometimes sparse or nonexistent, so the situation can be very complicated if a significant health problem arises. In order to alleviate the consequences of a situation like this as much as possible, a very interesting option is to have supplemental health insurance. This type of policy is used to meet extra medical expenses. They guarantee the ability to meet these payments so the family can maintain their standard of living and keep moving forward.
Of course, supplemental health insurance is an extra cost for the already-tight family budget of single mothers. However, it will give you security and long-term peace of mind: knowing that the children will be covered if things get difficult is a huge relief.
Supplemental Health Insurance for Single Mothers
If you are a single mother and are worried that an unexpected disease or ailment may be an insurmountable financial problem, we recommend that you seriously think about purchasing supplemental health insurance.
This insurance comes in handy when you must face a situation that exceeds the limits of your conventional health insurance. It could be that you have to make copayments, deductibles, or other payments that your insurance does not cover and have to resort to taking money from your savings or asking for a loan. In order to avoid this, supplemental insurance takes care of the extra costs and you can save your money so that you can maintain your family’s standard of living.
Therefore, if you believe that you need this kind of product, it is important that you carefully choose the one that is best for you.
In order to choose a health insurance policy, you should keep in mind the specific medical needs of your family. Consider whether you or your children have a propensity for any particular diseases. Or determine the risk that you assume at your job, in case you suffer from an accident. Using this analysis, you can think about what kind of insurance is best for you, or if you should combine more than one.
Test: Find Out If You Need Supplemental Insurance
Among the most useful supplemental health insurance for single mothers, the following are the ones that stand out:
- Dental insurance. If you have children, the most likely scenario is that you will need dental insurance at one point or another. It is not for nothing that cavities continue to be the most common heath problem for little ones. Taking this into consideration, these products are used to cover the expenses derived from any oral problems, including braces. Thanks to this insurance, you will not have to spend large amounts every time you go to the dentist. There are three types of dental coverage: preventative treatment, basic care, and important operations.
- Vision insurance. As you know, the mandatory insurance included in the Affordable Care Act, or ACA or Obamacare, includes vision care, but only for children up to 18 years old. After that, you will have to finance any new treatments or glasses. With vision insurance, these expenses are noticeably reduced or covered directly. Vision insurance can be purchased in combination with dental insurance, which is always an interesting option when there are children involved, as they will certainly have to go to the dentist, and most likely, the optician.
- Hospital expense insurance. If you are worried that a member of your family may have to be hospitalized, your best bet is to purchase hospital expense insurance. In the event of hospitalization, this coverage will furnish a sum of money in cash that you can use to meet any costs not covered by your primary medical insurance. For example, hospital bills, transportation, or rehabilitation centers. In addition, you will not have to pay any deductible.
- Critical illness insurance. No situation is more terrifying for a single mother than discovering that one of her children has a critical illness or is very susceptible to suffering from one. In order to protect your family in a situation like this, you can choose a critical illness insurance policy, which will help you pay expenses like copays, deductibles, the insurance fees themselves, transportation, and in general, any other expense that you may have over the time in which the sick person is receiving treatment.
- Accident insurance. If you have a dangerous job, travel a lot, or practice a risky activity, the best thing for you to do is purchase accident insurance. It will give you an extra benefit while you are out of commission, recovering from your incident. It a sum that you can use to pay treatment expenses that are not covered by your conventional insurance. One interesting form of insurance is accidental death and dismemberment insurance, or AD&D. This type of policy pays out its benefit if the insured person dies or loses a limb in an accident.
Protect Yourself with Crosswise Coverage
There are several very interesting options for a single mother to improve her medical insurance coverage. Your are doubtlessly considering which of these policies would be best for you, and even deciding that you need more than one. And you are probably right: the most convenient strategy is to have more than one type of these policies.
If you have children, the best idea is to have combined dental and vision insurance. However, it is possible that you need more coverage. In that case, you can look for other combinations, such as accident and hospital expense insurance. You may also want to have travel medical insurance if you travel outside the country or final expense insurance, which takes care of the expenses for your funeral if something happens to you.
In addition, you might think about life insurance for single mothers, because you never know when you might have to say goodbye to your children.
© 2024 Pan-American Life