Secure your life before it's too late..

Assalamualaikum w.b.t and as always, may everyone live happily and stay healthy.

I'm leaving for KL this morning by bus. I'll be in KL from Monday to Wednesday for an exam and I guess that would be a 'good' itinerary for my holiday this time. Hey at least it's better than staying at home doing nothing. I can go for shopping in the evening if time permitted. Hehe

Have you ever thought of what's gonna happen to you if you get older and weak or you have been diagnosed with a serious illness? Like cancer or something.. Or you get involved in an accident and need to undergo an operation to save your life. Do you have enough money for all the treatments you need? How about the hospital bill? It could be a huge burden to yourself and things could be worse if you are no longer fit enough to work yet you still have family to look after and parents to take care of.

OK there are few possibilities that you could do:

1) You may withdraw all the money you have in the ASB or other saving accounts to pay for the cost of treatment if you choose to go to the private hospital.

2) You may go to the government hospital. It's wiser option but due to high volume of patients there, you may need to line up before being treated (it depends on how severe your case is). I had a problem with my ear last year and I've been to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyyah in Alor Setar couple of times for treatment. The first time I went there, they gave me a date to meet a specialist as I've been referred by a local doctor in my district. (Klinik Kesihatan Daerah). I thought that I'll be meeting a specialist during the second visit but they gave me another new date to meet the real specialist. The one who treated me in the second visit was a medical doctor who perhaps working towards his specialization in ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) or they call it as Otolaryngology nowadays. Correct me if I'm wrong. To make it the story short, I finally went to Kedah Medical Center and was treated there instantly. Alhamdulillah I managed to recover quickly and everything is OK now. It was a worth thing to do even I had to pay RM125 for the treatment. Well what do you expect from a private hospital? I guess it was cheaper as I wasn't warded.

3) The third possibility is you go for a quick solution - private hospital. I'm not questioning the credibility of our govt hospital. Government hospital is still the best. They have good doctors, good facilities etc. It just the process sometimes could take a little bit longer and you certainly do not want to compromise your health. So no harm in getting second opinion from private. It's our right after all.

The issue now is we can't expect when this bad thing is going to happen so I'm suggesting the readers to buy an insurance policy that will help you in future. As there are lot of insurance packages offered in market, you need to be careful upon choosing which one is the best for you. Read the terms and conditions carefully and ask people around for their opinions. It's OK to take a little time to think on this. To new parents, it's a good idea to buy a policy that can cover the whole family members.
You may know this- it's better to buy the insurance when you are still young. You pay less as you have less probability to have serious illness at the young age. Certainly the insurance company won't sell their product to you when you are older, weak and has critical illness. They won't be making any profit by selling the insurance to you. Instead they need to spend more on you compared to what you paid for them.

I got one already - Prudential (RM160 monthly). I have been using it once when I had fever last time and being warded for 4 nights in Columbia Asia Hosp in Taiping. Hey, they paid for my treatments and they also gave me RM400 a day as a compensation for not being able to go to work. (It will benefit those who work as peniaga like that..) I have discharged with a RM1600 cheque in my hand. Well actually they bank in the money into my account few weeks later..;).

My point here is it's good if you can afford for an insurance policy. It may help you and your family. I wish our country has a plan like our neighbour Singapore. They have some sort of scheme that you have to pay for your own healthcare. I'm not sure whether they deduct automatically from your salary or what..It's not free so people will take care of their health seriously and as a result of this, one can expect a good service from their govt hospital.

OK i better stop now. My bus stopped in Bukit Gantang so I better go for a quick lunch. Sorry if there's any typo.. It's not an easy task- to write while the bus is moving. hehe. Until then Assalamualaikum.