Because Things Happen

Buying insurance would be easy if we knew exactly what was going to happen to us and when it would happen. You could avoid buying car insurance until you actually needed it . . . like just before your accident. Of course an accident by definition is something that is not planned or anticipated, so I guess we will have to change the terminology when everyone becomes prescient.

Or you could go without health insurance until you really needed it for big things, like cancer.

When Rachel Williams got breast cancer at the age of only 24, doctors told her she had been extremely unlucky.

"They said the chances of someone my age getting it were just one in 19,000.

"My consultant said that I had more chance of winning the lottery than getting breast cancer.

"I just wish I had bought a ticket."

1 in 19,000 are pretty good odds unless you happen to be the 1.

Doctors were so convinced that she was not at risk because of her age and the fact that she had no family history of cancer, that she was placed on a 14-week waiting list.

14 week waiting list.

That’s 3.5 months.

100 days to wonder if you have cancer.

But her parents pressed her to use her private health insurance, and she was seen within a week and the lump removed.

Private insurance.

That is what “rich” people have in nations where there is universal access to health care.

Luckily the lump was quite small. Rachel who never usually checked her breasts, had found it at an early stage.

The outcome appears to be positive thanks at least in part to having health insurance.

Even in a nation where there is free health care for everyone, it is a good idea to have your own policy.

Because things happen.