Aa Aa 2. Benefit of health insurance- A cautionary tale In 2012, Alex became responsible far providing his own health insurance. He obtained suitable coverage and paid annual premiums as shown in the following table. Compute Alex's total premiums: Alex's Premiums $4,479 2012 2013 4,704 2014 4,824 2015 5.0M9 Except for an occasional minor illnessrequiring a doctor's attention, a drug prescription, and periodic, routine tests, Alex enjoyed good health during those years. Because he had no reason to think that would change, by the end of 2014, Alex was considering dropping his health insurance coverage. After all, he could think of a lot of other uses for the thousands of dollars he spent each year on increasing premiums. Alex dedded to pay premiums for another year but planned to take another look at his health care plan at the end of 2015. It Could Happen to You, It Could Happen to Me In December 2015, Alex accepted an invitation from friends to go snowboarding Alex dideverything right: took a lesson, stayed on trails well within his skill level, and maintained an awareness of people and objects near him. Even though he thought it was a bit d to wear wrist guards and a helmet, his friends insisted that he take standard and reasonable safety measures. Alex was enjoying the day when fram out of nowhere (actually, the woods), came an out of control skier who ran into Alex. Alex was injured and taken to the nearest hospital by ambulance. Alex's injuries included a broken wrist and elbow as well as cuts and bruises. Of biggest concern was the uncertainty of his head injury. Alex spent a couple of days in intensivecare. Fortunately, he didn't have a broken skull, but did have a concussion. S was performed to repair the broken wrist and elbow. Since Alex was in good health, his recovery was complete. Alex ret to full function in about six months. umed Soon after Alex retumed home, however, the medical bills for the ambulance, emergency room, intensive care, medications, doctors, tests, and other services arrived. Alex also had to have physical therapy for his wrist and elbow. His total medical expenses were $35,000. It was time to find out if all those premiums paid since 2012 would pay off for just one, albeit dramatic incident