Of all the different type of insurance in existence health insurance is by far the most important.
There is absolutely nothing that is as important as your health and that of your family. Unlike other forms of insurance – health insurance isn’t deemed to be needed based on age; we all need it whether we’re in kindergarten or are retired grandparents. Regardless of your financial status you simply cannot allow your health or that of your families to be at risk. From covering emergency hospital admission and treatment in the event that you have an accident and are injured to making sure you get the routine check-ups and care that can help improve and maintain your health. There are very few people that would under normal circumstances be able to afford to pay their own medical bills, and even fewer who will be able to carry the costs of their dependants bills without some form of medical insurance. If you consider that the average night in hospital costs $10,000 – you're likely to understand why it’s so important to get covered before things go wrong. What would happen if you were diagnosed with a very serious illness that requires specialized, on-going treatment and care? What if you were to be seriously injured and require long-term hospitalization? Essentially when it comes to health care and treatment we have three options. The first is to rely solely on the public health care system, the second is to rely partially on the public health care system and save funds for treatments that they do not cover and thirdly is to take out private health insurance.
“Everyone should have health insurance? I say everyone should have health care. I'm not selling insurance.” - Dennis Kucinich
You may be wondering why you need health insurance if we have readily available public services and the ACC or, Accident Compensation Corporation that will compensate us for any personal injuries incurred and for any lost earnings if you are hospitalized or require time to recover at home and are unable to work. You may receive money if you're injured as a result of an accident however, what would happen if you were to develop a serious chronic illness? Would you be able to rely on public medical services to treat a life-threatening illness? In most cases any emergencies can very well be treated by the public health care system but, there are certain specialized operations and treatments that will be you of reach for you. In addition if an illness or injury is not deemed as life-threatening you will be placed on a very long waiting list which will ob average take 14 weeks longer for your operation or procedure to be done than if you had been placed on a private waiting list. This may not sound too serious since it would be deemed as a non-life-threatening procedure or surgery however, imagine the pain, discomfort and anticipation of having to wait an additional 14 weeks to get it over with?
Private medical care in New Zealand
It’s a fact that having access to private medical care not only provides you with better quality care using the most advanced medical diagnosis, procedural and medication treatments but it also improves your chances of recovering from any injury or illness. What’s more is most medical insurance policies offer free preventative care that can certainly go a long way in ensuring your trip to the doctor’s office remains very limited while detecting any trouble early – before it becomes something serious. When you don’t have health insurance you tend to put of getting small things checked out and it’s these small things that always end up escalating into major things that will cost a lot more than you could have ever imagined.
Types of Health Insurance
So what kinds of health insurance policies exist and, which one would be the best option to choose? This depends on your financial ability, career and lifestyle. Many employers offer comprehensive health insurance policies and if you have this option than you should certainly take advantage of it. Comprehensive health insurance policies offered by employers are usually cheaper since they are able to receive multi-person discount rates that you wouldn’t be able to negotiate on your own.
The most important thing is that you decide to get a health insurance policy from a young age (no later than your twenties), and that you keep up with your monthly or weekly payments. Since as we age our risk for developing chronic illnesses and becoming injured increases; taking out health insurance when you're older will prove to be much more costly. Some insurers will be more lenient than other when it comes to age, so it’s a good idea to use one of the many online health insurance premium calculators to see how premiums differ from one insurer to the next simply based on age. Insurance is also more costly for women than for men and if you happen to be women with children, you're likely to be paying a lot more however, since there is nothing we can do about that, you’ll just have to accept that extra charge. If you're overweight or if you smoke – you’ll also be penalized so do consider making better lifestyle choices; not only for the few dollars you may save on your health insurance premiums but for your own quality of life. There are many insurers and schemes that target people in their twenties and these tend o be more affordable even though they do have many exclusions which include many surgical procedures. These sort of policies will cover any trips to the doctor’s office, emergencies, dental check-ups and optometrist services and basic products. Since they’re so affordable and can save you a lot of money – it’s a good idea to look into them if you’re in your twenties. If you're looking to reduce the costs of health insurance you may want to opt for a policy that covers hospitalization and specialist services. These are likely to be most costly medical expenses you would incur and the difference between public and private care finds its greatest difference here. To cut your premiums you could opt to take out limited cover of for instance $100,000 or opt for a higher excess. You should only choose these options if you have a decent amount of savings and perhaps an emergency fund that could cover any excess or medical bills that are not covered by your policy. Remember to shop around – you’re likely to stay with the same insurer for many years to come so make sure you do as much research as possible and that you consider your options carefully.
