When taking out an insurance policy, many people are thinking about protecting their family financially if “the worst should happen.” For many parents, the real worst-case scenario is not something happening to them – it’s something happening to their child.
Data from the Health Quality and Safety Comission shows there is a postcode lottery on access to surgery around the country. This means that need isn't the only criteria in determining whether a child should get surgery and how fast they get it. Other criteria include the resources of healthare provider (which varies by location around New Zealand). Health insurance can allow you to be seen by the right healthcare provider at the right time without worrying about these criteria by paying for your specialist visits.
It's important to remember that there is insurance protection available to cover your children if they become ill/injured. There are many reasons why you should consider insurance for your children but here are our top four:
1. Because all children can get hurt
No matter what you do to protect them, all children can get sick and/or injured. If that happens, you want them to have the best healthcare available and you want them to be treated as soon as possible. Insuring your children is a good way to ensure that this happens. Public healthcare and ACC do provide some support but you can end up waiting days, months, even years for treatment. This means that getting the right treatment at the right time can be expensive and it's likely to be unaffordable without insurance.
2. Because your children getting sick affects you
If something should happen to your children, you'll want to be there for them. The last thing you need is financial stress limiting the time that you can take off work, or limiting the things you can do to help them recover. Children's trauma insurance can help with this by providing a lump sum of money to help you stay home, to cover costs associated with their treatment or even take the family on a post-treatment holiday.
3. Because getting your children cover now makes it easier for them when they grow up.
When you take out insurance, you usually have to provide insurance companies with information about your health, pursuits and pastimes, occupation, family history, etc. This can lead to certain health conditions or pastimes not being covered by your policy. If you sign your children up when they are young, the odds are that they will have fewer health conditions and may not yet have taken up riskier sports, etc. This means that they could end up having more comprehensive insurance cover than if they had only applied as an adult.
4. Because its very easy and more affordable than you might think.
Insurance for children can either be separate or part of your (or, sometimes, their grandparents' policy). As for the cost, children's trauma insurance is usually around $10 a month and health insurance is not much more. Sometimes, insurance for children is even free if you add them to your own policy.
Ultimately, it is worth considering how you would cope financially if one or more of your children was affected by illness or injury. Covering them with insurance can provide much needed monetary support to help them, you and your family through these tough and stressful situations.
