Take five minutes now. I want you to answer a question for yourself.
Do you have money saved up in case you have a medical emergency? If you were to slip and break your arm and somebody has to pick up the kids, get them home or take care of your parents or a special needs loved one, do you have emergency cash available?
Separate from your insurance, you should have cash put aside for some basics that people don’t think about:
Medical Deductible – They range from $5 (if you are lucky) to $100 (average these days) to whatever it is on the plan you have. Don’t always count on credit cards to get it covered. Make sure you get a receipt for any deductibles you pay if you use cash.
Prescriptions – Pain killers, antibiotics, and whatever else – figure $20-200 depending on what has happened to you and your medical coverage.
Parking – Hospital parking runs from free to $15 in some cities.
Food – Relatives who visit need to be fed and watered (hi kids) and snack machines, cafeteria meals are easier to do when everything is up in the air then worrying about brown bagging it to the hospital.
Phone Cards – Some hospitals don’t give you outgoing phone service, you should plan for it accordingly by having some phone cards for $20 in case you don’t have your cell phone with you when you are checked into the hospital or it is damaged or separated from you. Watch the hours that they don’t expire right away or have a relative buy a phone card and bring it to you the day you check into the hospital. Remember also cell phones aren’t normally allowed in a hospital.
This is just a start – you can figure regionally for what the cost might be for you. Figure the neighborhood of $200 – $1000 depending on what city that you live in and what kind of medical coverage that you have. Keep it in your checking account and accessible by your ATM card.
I know it is weird locking up money like that but trust me, when you are in pain, and there are a million other things going on you need to take care of, you will be glad that you had some cash saved up. Insurance, if you have the coverage, will kick in, but it doesn’t always cover all of the little things that you need to have taken care of when you check into a hospital.
Kim Greenblatt
You are in Kim Greenblatt’s blog, profitable, where he is suggesting you establish an Emergency Medical Fund of cash.