A good education doesn't come easily for today's college students. They have to devote hours of study to their disciplines of choice, the payoff being a degree, serving as their "golden ticket" to ambitious hopes of tomorrow.
The first hurdle they have to overcome, though, is the cost of tuition, which over the past decade has soared to record levels. Skyrocketing expenses have left many people wondering how they'll be able to pay for everything without being tens of thousands of dollars in debt by the time they wrap up their college careers.
The answer to this financial riddle may lie in how their families manage health care expenses in the 10 years before college, a new study suggests.
Though many college students try to pay their own way through university life, parents often help out, whether by providing for a percentage of the cost of tuition or offering financial assistance wherever it may be needed. But there are some basic health care-related budgetary strategies that can help along the way, according to data analysis experts.
Dr. April Seifert, author of the report and a health care guru, noted that the ways to save are numerous and just about all of them are pretty straightforward. For instance, part of saving comes by simply paying attention for any announcements from your health care provider regarding free preventive care, often offered several times each year. Health savings accounts are also highly effective ways of saving for both emergency expenses as well as scheduled checkups.
Enrollment programs provide savings on medications
Prescription medicines are among the more expensive health care considerations. Even here, though, many drug stores and pharmacies offer enrollment programs that provide medications, even those that are specialty, where the charge is often no more than a traditional co-pay.
Seifert noted that just as people experience sticker shock from the cost of tuition, they often have the same reaction when it comes to health care when they don't prepare themselves.
"When it comes to health care, many are not aware how much medical services cost or what savings programs are available to them," Seifert explained.
Seifert recently authored a free how-to guide that delves into some of the basic strategies consumers can implement to make health care costs more manageable.
High health care costs still rampant
Despite the Affordable Care Act's implementation, supporters of which said would help families save thousands of dollars on their health care expenses, medical costs are still a major issue for the average American. Nearly 45 percent of U.S. adults point to cost or access as the nation's top health issues, according to a poll done late last year by Gallup. In a more recent survey conducted jointly by the New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly two-thirds of respondents with medical problems said they've used up "most or all" of their savings to pay for the rising costs of medical treatment, including those with employee benefits as coverage. Additionally, 40 percent are working a second job to drum up more earnings.
