Waiting for years to get treatment for a non acute illness is a reality for some families. Having private medical cover ensures that should the worst happen, you are not having to eat up your savings to get quicker treatment. And give your family access to a bigger range of medication. As Pharmac, the government medicine buying body only provides funding for certain
Better than the NZ health system?
I feel we still have amazing levels of cover provided by the public health system for free. However where things can get hairy is when you have non acute health issues. Surprisingly this can include things where living with pain becomes a reality for many months. When the public health system is busy, priority gets given to those considered to be more in need.
This is where having private medical cover can outshine the public health system. It gives you access to medical treatment quickly and also means wider pool of possible medications.
But isn’t it too expensive ?
There are ways to make it more affordable. A specialist insurance adviser such as Sandy will give you clarity around costs and benefits.
A couple of things which can be adjusted to make cover cheaper is, the excess and level of cover. Taking a higher excess obviously reduces the premium as you would less likely to claim for cheaper tests and treatment. You can also strip the cover back to only help you for major surgeries and treatments, this again would reduce the premiums.
