Preventative Care and The Importance of Routine Healthcare Visits

Fall is when many of us have settled into our new routines for the year. With school, sports, activities, household schedules, etc. now going strong, many of us have grown accustomed to what our day-to-day looks like, and are more comfortable with how things flow from week to week. While we all know the importance of routine in our daily lives though, we often forget about the importance of routine healthcare, and in the crazy schedules of modern families, it’s easy for dental appointments, eye exams, and physicals to get overlooked.

Why does this matter? After all, if you aren’t sick, your teeth aren’t bothering you, and your eyes seem to be working fine, all must be well…right?

Not necessarily. The first important thing to remember about routine healthcare is that it is just that…routine. It needs to be done on schedule (usually once or twice a year), in order to catch any minor changes that could signal something wrong, before it becomes a bigger issue and possibly harder to treat or fix. For example, an annual eye exam monitors any changes, no matter how slight, in your vision. When a chance is noticed, any prescriptions will then be immediately updated, keeping your vision as strong as possible and preventing further strain and damage. If you skip the visit, or are very delayed in the exam, that change would have gone unnoticed, you would have been putting your eyes under more strain for a longer period of time, and you could have caused more extensive damage requiring more extensive changes to your prescriptions, or might have required more intensive treatment. This is true of dental care and routine health physicals as well!

Additionally, it’s important to keep up with routine healthcare for insurance purposes. Many policy providers work on a calendar year when it comes to appointments. Keeping up with this is key. Think about this scenario: Your insurance provider covers one full physical each year. You were due for your annual physical in early September but you were late in scheduling it and there were no more openings until mid-January. Since your insurance works on a calendar year, you can get coverage for that appointment in January 2020…but that means you’ll have forfeited an entire appointment for this current year. You won’t be able to “make it up” since the visits don’t roll over. In other words, you’ll have wasted the 2019 appointment altogether, and by your records, will have totally skipped your physical that year. Your next covered appointment would be January 2021. Of course, this varies greatly based on your provider, your policy, and your family, but the point of the scenario is this: scheduling your appointments ahead and staying in routine is a big part of not just staying healthy, but also making the most of your health coverage. 

While we can’t keep up with your calendar for you, we can make sure that you don’t miss major dates for making changes to your insurance policies, and getting the best rates and coverage for your family. Open season will be here before we know it, and it will be time to once again shop for the best provider that meets your needs and your budget. Carroll Marshall Insurance is here and ready to help you do just that, with our knowledge and experience in Florida insurance coverage. Give us a call to schedule an appointment or stop by our office!