The health grenade

Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.

- Hippocrates -

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I received an email from my health insurer advising my monthly premium will be rising by $1.40/month; it doesn't sound like a lot and I have the money, but it got me thinking about the cost of living here in Australia and about those who may not have the ability to keep up with the multitude of small increases. It's common for people to cut corners and insurances are one of the first casualties.

I have extras cover meaning things like dental, chiropractic, podiatry, physiotherapy, remedial massage optical and others; basically, it's everything except hospital cover. It's been sufficient for my needs and, together with Australia's excellent Medicare system, I feel reasonably well covered. The cost of hospital plus extras is about $170 per month so it's a significant increase and is cover I think I don't require right now.

But what price could be put on a person's health? Well, it seems many don't put much value on it at all as they are dropping health cover in droves and one of the reasons is that the premiums are increasing.

I wonder if that's wise considering that humans are frail creatures and susceptible to illness and physical and mental issues that often require some form of treatment. I get it though, the cost of living is out of control and people have to adjust.

I have a budget spreadsheet outlining every cost I have annually and broken down by month; it doesn't include extra want-stuff but it includes savings, buying metals, food, fuel, insurances, running my houses, entertainment costs, weekly shopping, phone and internet, gun-related stuff, licenses...everything. I was going to add the figure into this post as an indication of what an average middle-class two-person household has to commit to in respect of an annual budget here in Australia but I decided not to though as it's not really anyone's business. It's a big number though, well over six figures, and when emails like this morning's come in the pressure mounts a little more. Again, I can absorb it, but many simply cannot.

What I find interesting though is that as prices go up, one of the first things people discard is insurances.

People pull back on house, vehicle and life insurances, along with health insurance to save money but at what cost? It seems like pulling a pin on a live hand grenade, holding it in one's hand and waiting for it go explode - nothing good will come of it.

What's more confusing is that insurances go first rather than non-essential items like Netflix, alcohol, the latest mobile phone or computer game purchase, cigarettes and new clothing or shoe purchases...materialistic consumer-items that really have little value when compared against one's own health, a roof over one's head, nutritious food and so on. Sure, people rarely see any value in insurance until one needs to make a claim, but without it life could be massively impacted.

What happens when one has a vehicle accident and has no insurance to fix it or buy a new one? Maybe the person relies on the vehicle for work and loses their job. Hmm, not smart.

How about an electrical fire that completely destroys a person's house. They lose everything and have no insurance to rebuild their lives? Hmm, seems irresponsible to me, especially if that person is still spending money on other less important things as mentioned above. These things happen, daily, and yet people take the risk of discarding insurances in preference for items like I listed above.

Each to their own I guess right? People have the choice to do as they please and will need to accept the consequences of making bad decisions.

I think it's quite shameful the way this country is going, the whole world really, and there's many areas we can point the finger and lay blame, however each and everyone of us should be looking in the mirror and asking how we are personally adding to the problem and what we are doing to mitigate its effects. That's just my opinion.

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A person's health is all they really have and it's vitally important, in my humble opinion. I know people don't often think about it until there's a problem, taking things for granted seems to be one of mankind's super powers, but the reality is that bad things happen, people get sick or injured. I think it pays to be prepared for it and having insurance is one of the ways to do so.

But that's just me, what is your thought on the topic? Do you have insurance, do you go without other things to secure it or do you simply not care and feel taking your chances is preferable? Let me know in comments below if you like.