How important is it to have health insurance?

Host: How important is it to have health insurance?

Bob Hurley: It's so important for people to have health insurance of some kind. In fact, there have been many studies done that show that people that have health insurance basically, stay healthier and a lot of that has to do with the fact that when you have health insurance you feel more comfort in going to a doctor because you have got some financial help for any of the costs associated with going to the doctor or going to get your lab work and so on. So what we know for sure is that if you have health insurance you are going to get more of the care that you need and you are going to stay healthier. So it's very important for people to have that coverage.

Secondly, I talk to the families all the time around the country and they will ask me, "How much coverage is enough?

" I was let them know that they need to use the sleep at night role. They need to get to enough coverage where they can feel comfortable with their coverage that financially they won't be ruined if something bad happens and I will like to refer to that as sleep at night. I can sleep in night knowing I have got that health insurance coverage.

The other thing that many families will ask me is, "Are these higher health insurance deductibles okay? Is it okay to buy $1,500 deductible or $2,000 deductible? Is that going to be enough coverage?

" What I like to tell them is if that is what you can afford then you should absolutely buy those higher deductible plans because it's much simpler to be able to go out and find $2,000 or $2,500 to cover that deductible than it is to go out and find $50,000 or $60,000 to cover a hospital stay because you have had some kind of health condition.

So my word of advice to families all over this nation is as I speak to them is absolutely get the coverage you can afford that because any coverage is better than no coverage at all.