If you have a medical problem you know that medical debt can add up quickly, even if you have insurance. Insurance doesn’t cover everything. There are co-pays and things that aren’t covered at all.

Even if your medical insurance is excellent, that also doesn’t mean that it covers prescriptions, and those aren’t cheap either. When it comes to healthcare it’s something everyone needs, at some time or another. That means you should do everything you can to stay out of medical debt and keep yourself healthy.

Clean Up Your Credit

You may pay less on insurance if you have good credit. That’s one way cleaning up your credit can help you when it comes to your health. Having a clean credit record can also help you beat some stress in your life.

If your credit is a mess because of your health care, there is help available. Consider looking into medical debt relief. Debt consolidation can help you get any kind of debt, even medical, under control. You might even want to try crowdfunding to help with medical expenses, especially if you don’t have any insurance.

Make Sure You’re Insured

If you don’t already have health insurance it’s time to look into getting some. There are plenty of options out there. For example, if you’re a low income earner, there are options out there for you, such as IEHP (more info here). That health plan could be useful, so make sure to research it and find out if you’re eligible. If you already have medical insurance but it doesn’t cover your prescriptions, you may want to look into some kind of medication discount plan.

Health insurance should be to you like car insurance is to your vehicle. You may never need it, and you may pay more than you think you need to for it, but it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Get Checkups And Physicals

Getting regular checkups and physicals can be great for your health, and it can help keep down your need for emergency visits to the doctor or the hospital. Vaccinations can help keep you from getting common, and not so common, illnesses.

It’s somewhat likely that your insurance covers an annual checkup where you can get all the bloodwork done needed to catch illness and disease early. Don’t skip these kinds of appointments because early detection could save your life.

Take Care Of Yourself At Home

You shouldn’t rely on your doctor to keep you healthy. Good health and prevention of illness begin at home. Start treating colds and the flu, or even allergies when the season is right, from home with natural cures (like tea with honey and lemon for a sore throat).

If you eat healthier and get daily exercise this can also lead to a healthier and longer life. Don’t get hung up on days when you cheat and eat a whole box of cookies, just work on doing better the next day.