Notes from my real life practice at end of clinic today:
Insurance.
It’s not really family health related?
Oh, but it is.
When I started this project, I said I wanted to take some of my worst doctor-patient conversations out of hospital quiet rooms and into this forum — with the goal of avoiding us having them in the future.
So, I’m really not sure why I haven’t blogged here about this before, because it is a conversation that my colleagues and I have so, so often across the country in Emergency Rooms, GP surgeries, and Outpatient Departments around the country: the Negotiations.
“Doctor, you just gotta get me outta this cast. I’m a self-employed plasterer/painter. I can’t not work for 6 weeks because of a weekend soccer accident.”
“Doctor, what are we going to do? I don’t want to say it in front of her now. But cancer, chemo…she’ll be out work for months. She’s self-employed and we do depend on that income to help cover the mortgage. How long do you think she’ll be out?”
These negotiations are always the poor patient desperately trying to get the doctor to find some magic short-cut or work-around to heal the fracture, settle the infection, or in any way cheat the treatment to get the patient back to work quickly.
Too often we just can’t. And when the patient has to make tough choices, the compromises are rarely good for the patient’s long-term health. Or their stress levels.
Honestly, it is really worth at least having a discussion in the family about income protection insurance. Maybe you run the numbers and realise that it’s not something you need. But I strongly suggest just having the talk. You can start by just having a look online or a discussion with an insurance broker (personal note: I find insurance brokers very helpful. I have had to study and understand the details of many, many complicated things as a doctor. Finer points of insurance/actuarials, I have decided, will not be one of them.)
Like many docs, I fill out these insurance claim forms regularly. But probably not as many as I should. (I do prompt stressed patients about income insurance. Some have been paying on a plan for years by direct debit and have forgotten about it in the moment of panic with a new diagnosis!)
Reasons my patients tell me they never considered it when I bring it up:
1. Some circulating urban myths that poor health or the type of work means you aren’t eligible or “they won’t pay out” (as long as you don’t lie, usually not true)
2. Some patients say they just don’t understand it and didn’t know how to start.
3. They never thought they would need it (I’m so healthy!) – until the day they did.
4. The confusion about costs (how much is it really) and benefits (tax deduction)
5. Misunderstanding about who and how much is covered under Social Protection. Get facts here: http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/345_Illness-Benefit.aspx
I am a doctor. I do not in any way sell insurance, nor am I in the least bit interested in or qualified to offer financial advice to anyone. So do not ask me. But, based on daily conversations, honestly, for many of you, it is really worth at least having a discussion about income protection insurance in the family, and if you haven’t previously considered it, getting correct information.
0 Comments