FreedomPlus newsletter

A big reason for this change is to detect conditions or chronic diseases, like heart disease and cancer, sooner. If your doctor identifies early warning signs, you can find a disease before it gets worse—which can mean less invasive treatments, a lower cost for care, and ultimately a longer life.

To give you an incentive to take advantage of preventive care, health insurance plans generally provide a long list of health services without charging a copay—basically, for free.

Which health services can I get for free?
All health plans sold on the Healthcare.gov marketplace must provide the following services to adults free of charge (meaning no copay, coinsurance, or needing to meet your deductible). Even if you’re on employer-provided insurance, these services should be free, but check your plan’s Summary of Benefits and Coverage to be sure—you might even see more services that aren’t listed here.

• Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening for men who smoke (covered once)
• Alcohol misuse screening and counseling
• Aspirin use to prevent cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer for adults 50 to 59 years with a high cardiovascular risk
• Blood pressure screening
• Cholesterol screening for adults of certain ages or people at a higher risk
• Colorectal cancer screening for adults 50 to 75
• Depression screening
• Diabetes (Type 2) screening for adults 40 to 70 years who are overweight or obese
• Diet counseling for adults at higher risk for chronic disease
• Falls prevention (with exercise or physical therapy and vitamin D use) for adults 65 years and older living in a community setting
• Hepatitis B screening for people at high risk.
• Hepatitis C screening for adults 18 to 79 years old
• HIV screening for everyone ages 15 to 65, and other ages at increased risk
• PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) HIV prevention medicationfor HIV-negative adults at high risk for getting HIV
• Immunizations for adults (varying by dosage, age, and population), including chickenpox (Varicella), Diphtheria, Flu (influenza), Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Measles, Meningococcal, Mumps, Whooping Cough (Pertussis), Pneumococcal, Rubella, Shingles, and Tetanus
• Lung cancer screening for adults 55 to 80 at high risk for lung cancer because they’re heavy smokers or have quit in the past 15 years
• Obesity screening and counseling
• Sexually transmitted infection prevention counseling for adults at higher risk
• Statin preventive medication for adults 40 to 75 at high risk, which helps lower cholesterol to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke
• Syphilis screening for adults at higher risk
• Tobacco use screening for all adults and cessation interventions for tobacco users
• Tuberculosis screening for certain adults without symptoms at high risk

Women get additional services and children have their own list of covered services as well.

How do I know what I need?
The best time to see which services you need is during your annual wellness exam—which is also free!

This visit with your primary care physician covers general screenings and questions based on your age, gender, and health history. Using that information, your doctor can determine which services are the most appropriate for you.

Source:

1. Healthcare.gov, “Preventive care benefits for adults,” accessed 10/22/21

Everyone makes impulse purchases (unbudgeted buys) here and there. But to stay on track financially, it’s crucial to keep them under control—especially before the holiday season! That’s because impulse purchases are to your finances like Christmas cookies are to a diet: One or two might not be the end of the world, but over time they can really add up.

In order to tackle this habit, it helps to first understand the psychology behind impulse buying. Then, you can use the following tips to crush any budget-breaking impulse from now on.

Why do I impulse buy?

Most of the time, it comes down to emotions.

Buying on impulse is the exact opposite of a logical, thought-out (i.e., budgeted) decision. It’s usually a spur-of-the-moment retail reaction, typically to relieve a negative emotion—boredom, anxiety, sadness, and maybe even the fear of missing out (or FOMO). Since buying something new can be fun and release a bit of dopamine, it can alleviate negative emotions… for a short while.

And speaking of FOMO, many people impulse buy because they think they’re getting a bargain they might not see again (think Black Friday). Specifically, promotions increase the perceived value of a product, and the time constraint of the sale price creates urgency. Shoppers feel like they need to “act soon” to get the sale item or they’ll miss out on a great deal. Sales create a powerful urge to buy that’s difficult for even the most budget-conscious consumers to resist.

How do I limit impulse purchases?

You can use a few tools to reduce impulse buying, both proactively (before the urge strikes) and reactively (in the middle of a tempting potential purchase). Some tools will work better for you than others—it’s really up to personal preference—so experiment and see which one is the most effective for you.

Use proactive tips beforehand

Budget for them
It sounds counter-productive, but giving yourself freedom to buy a few things on impulse can help protect the rest of your budget from an all-out splurge. When you plan for a little impulsivity in your budget (within reason), it can keep you honest and within a safe spending limit.

Of course, this means you’ll need to stick to your budget!

Create a list
Grocery shopping with a list is a must if you want to stick to your budget. But you could also apply this principle for general shopping. For example, if you needed a new pair of jeans, you could commit to buying only a pair of jeans—not whatever other sale item “jumps into the cart.”

Put up roadblocks
Every major retailer has an app these days. Whether it’s clothes, coffee, or cars, companies make it as easy as possible to spend money on their products. If you’re in the habit of impulse overspending through an app, delete it. If you stored any debit card info on websites, delete that too. These extra steps will help you keep every purchase intentional and within budget.

Use reactive tips during

Enforce a “cool down” period
If you’re feeling the urge to splurge on a big-ticket item, make yourself wait a day or two—maybe even a week—before you buy it. Sometimes, all it takes is walking away from the merchandise for a while to regain your budget-conscious bearings. By then, you might realize you don’t really need that thing anyway.

Fast-forward
Buyer’s remorse is the realization that you made a bad purchase. Maybe it didn’t bring the happiness you were hoping for, maybe it wasn’t as good a deal as you thought—either way, you regret it. While you’re contemplating buying something on impulse, fast-forward to the buyer’s remorse before you’ve handed over the cash. Ask yourself, will this thing actually bring me the feeling I’m looking for?

Find another outlet
If you notice yourself shopping to feel better or impulse shopping is becoming a habit, consider a more financially healthy—free—alternative. Get into the fresh air, get some exercise, connect with a friend, dust off an old hobby or start a new one… anything that works for you. Habits are hard to break, but with hard work and support, it can be done.