How Much can Tonik Save your A to Z?

By some estimates, primarily California Health Care Foundation research that was based on 2003ıs U.S. Census data, around thirty-seven percent of Californians between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-four are going without health insurance. To many twenty-somethings, the pressure to begin forging their burgeoning careers will more often than not take precedence over the idea of taking a far less-exciting job that includes a benefits package. For example, there are a growing number of recent college grads and even younger adults starting their own businesses. In 2004, the National Association for the Self Employed conducted surveys that revealed that fifteen percent of its members were in their 20s or 30s.

But, for other young Americans, being uninsured is not a choice. College graduates are entering a jobs market wherein fewer and fewer firms are financially capable of them comprehensive offering health insurance benefits. From 2000 to 2003, the numbers of nineteen to thirty-four year olds covered by an employer-sponsored health care plan fell by six million, the sharpest decline among the non-elderly adult population in since the end of WWII. The reasons for such a dramatic shift can be partly explained by the fact that there are more adults who are either self-employed or working at a smaller firm that can't offer benefits. And, given the tough job market, many younger adults are also opting for part-time or temporary work.

Of course, little of the above would even rise to the level of a mild concern, for most 19 to 29 year olds if it werenıt for the ever-increasing costs of health care in general and health insurance in particular. Back In 1998, health care spending here in the United States topped out at over 1.1 trillion dollars. That figure represented a staggering 13.5 percent of the nationıs gross domestic product for that calendar year. More importantly, said percentage meant that our collective healthcare costs had handily outpaced that of any other countryı$4, 094 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States. Take a look at the case example below:

Outpatient Cancer Treatmentıand, as anyone who watches the Discovery Channel already knows, though rare, itıs no where near as out of the question for nineteen to twenty-nine year olds as weıd all like to think . . . One outpatient cancer treatment could end up costing you as much as $9,982.53. If youıd like to see how that itemizes out here goes . . . $2,160 for the erythropoietin (the medicine) used to promote the formation of ıreplacementı red blood cells. A necessity because of the anemia that makes cancer patients so tired. Then thereıll be $2,737.50 charge for an infusion of the pamidronate used to prevent cancer-ravaged bones from breaking too easily. Next up you have a $3,737.35 price tag attached to the leuprolide depot that helps prevent the cancer from spreading. Then there are the charges for starting the IV injections themselves. And, thatıs before counting the costs for the actual visit to the cancer specialist responsible for ordering those treatments, the monthly blood tests, other daily prescription medications and or studies used to effectively visualize the patientıs treatment response.

What You Could Wind Up Spending On Medical Care: