Alison's injuries included a broken wrist and elbow as well as cuts and bruises. Of biggest concern was the uncertainty of her head injury. Alison spent a couple of days in intensive care. Fortunately, she didn't have a broken skull, but did have a concussion. Surgery was performed to repair the broken wrist and elbow. Since Alison was in good health, her recovery was complete. Alison returned to full function in about six months. Soon after Alison returned home, however, the medical bills for the ambulance, emergency room, intensive care, medications, doctors, tests, and other services arrived. Alison also had to have physical therapy for her wrist and elbow. Her 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. Overall, Alison's insurance paid 75% of the total medical expenses, thus making her responsible for expenses, or $ % of the . Alison's insurance paid $ Her out-of-pocket expenses for the accident of $ totaled $ plus the 2015 insurance premiums of $ If Alison had canceled her health insurance at the end of 2014, her out-of-pocket expenses for the accident would have been $ . In this case, did Alison benefit from having health insurance? What are reasonable morals of the story? Check all that apply. Don't get sick Never leave the house. It can be financially risky to go without health insurance Think long and hard about the best tradeoff of coverage and cost in a health care plan. Your health can change in an instant. Some employers pay part or all of the health insurance premiums for employees who are enrolled in one of the company's sponsored plans. Assume that during the same time period that Alison paid for her premiums in full that she had, instead, worked for a firm that paid 75% of her premiums for the same coverage. Instead of paying premiums of $ over the years, Alison would have paid $ and saved$ Keep the Highest: /19 Attempts 2. Benefit of health insurance -A cautionary tale In 2012, Alison became responsible for providing her own health insurance. She obtained suitable coverage and paid Aa Aa annual premiums as shown in the following table. Compute Alison's total premiums: Alison's Premiums 2012 2013 2014 2015 4,479 4,704 4,824 5,049 Total Except for an occasional minor illness requiring a doctor's attention, a drug prescription, and periodic, routine tests, Alison enjoyed good health during those years. Because she had no reason to think that would change, by the end of 2014, Alison was considering dropping her health insurance coverage. After all, she could think of a lot of other uses for the thousands of dollars she spent each year on increasing premiums. Alison decided to pay premiums for another year but planned to take another look at her health care plan at the end of 2015 It Could Happen to You, It Could Happen to Me In December 2015, Alison accepted an invitation from friends to go snowboarding. Alison did everything right: took a lesson, stayed on trails well within her skill level, and maintained an awareness of people and objects near her. Even though she thought it was a bit dorky to wear wrist guards and a helmet, her friends insisted that she take standard and reasonable safety measures. Alison was enjoying the day when, from out of nowhere (actually, the woods), came an out of control skier who ran into Alison. Alison was injured and taken to the nearest hospital by ambulance
