If you’re financially conscious, you’ve likely planned ahead for emergencies. However, some situations — especially medical — are hard to plan for, even for the fiscally responsible. Whether you’re covering expenses for yourself, your kids, your parents, or even your dog, there are plenty of ways to fund emergency medical situations for your family. Below, we’ll discuss five ways financially conscious planners like you can cover these unexpected expenses.
1. Use Your Emergency Fund
An emergency fund can ensure that you can cover any expenses that come up unexpectedly, including medical expenses. If you don’t already have one, start an emergency fund so that you’re prepared when life throws you the next curveball. Start by writing out a list of your current expenses and income, setting an emergency savings goal, and coming up with a plan to start saving.
2. Use an Emergency Credit Card
Having an emergency credit card can come in handy for a variety of urgent situations. USAA offers credit cards with features like:
- 2,500 bonus points after your first purchase
- 3X points on dining out
- 2X points on gas and groceries
- 1X points on all other purchases
- 2% cashback on your first $3,000 in grocery purchases every year
- Unlimited 1% cashback on every other purchase (which includes medical bills and related expenses)
An emergency credit card with these kinds of features can help you cover emergency medical situations that might arise. And you can even earn back some of the money you spend on such expenses.
3. Supplemental Medical Insurance
Supplemental medical insurance can help you cover expenses if you or a family member ever needs to be hospitalized due to a medical condition. There are dozens of companies that offer supplemental medical insurance that can pay you instead of medical providers so that you can cover expenses like rent and other bills you might’ve otherwise missed due to an illness or injury.
Supplemental medical insurance can help you keep up with your monthly expenses and help you avoid falling behind if you have to use a credit card to pay your expenses. It’s worth considering if anyone in the family has a medical condition or if you don’t think you have adequate medical insurance.
4. Borrow Against Your Life Insurance
If you don’t have an emergency fund you can tap into or supplemental medical insurance, you can borrow against your life insurance policy if you have a whole life insurance policy that has a cash value. Term life insurance doesn’t offer that option.
Borrowing against your life insurance policy can provide cash quickly so that when you need to cover emergency medical situations, you can borrow against the death benefit. One great advantage of getting a loan this way is that it won’t affect your credit score, unlike a bank loan or credit card.
5. Tap Into Your Savings
As a last resort, you can tap into your savings if you have to. While most financially savvy people wouldn’t dream of doing this, you might not have any other options. If your credit score isn’t exactly where it needs to be or you let your life insurance or supplemental medical insurance lapse, you can always use your savings to cover expenses now and put the money back later.
Whatever you currently add to your savings account regularly, consider adding a little extra until it is back up to where it was before your medical emergency.
Planning for Future Emergencies
Using the above suggestions, you can cover your unexpected medical expenses with ease. With the right amount of planning and protection, you won’t have trouble keeping your head above water if the unthinkable should happen to you or your family.
By implementing the solutions above, you can take comfort in knowing both your medical expenses and your regular monthly costs will be covered.