A procedure to remove a blockage in the heart would cost RM35000 and above in IJN (National Heart Institute in Malaysia). At other private hospitals, it would cost even more. This is more than what some would earn in a year. Others like hole in the heart surgery would cost few hundred thousand and if done overseas- close to a million.
A treatment at private hospital for cancer cost a few hundred thousand bucks- probably the chunk or our entire retirement fund had to be spend for treatment. And if the family goes down to Singapore to seek treatment, the first question the doctor would ask them is..”the entire treatment would cost so ____ amount. Do you have the money?”. If not, can forget about it. If yes, only the doctors would start treating.
Therefore, it is important that we have to learn to preserve our health. No doubt, some things we cannot forsee. For example, more and more people in their twenties are getting (and dying) from heart attacks and strokes- even if they are physically fit! This is almost unheard of 50 years ago.
Factors such as this is beyond our control. All we can do is what that is beyond our control. Often we fail to value our health when our body is still holding up. We take over the counter prescription when our body is in pain. We ignore the some signs that our body is displaying till it is too late.
The astronomical costs of health is really alarming. When it comes to our health and those of our loves ones, we sometimes cannot simply leave it on the mercy of some inexperienced chap fresh out of medical school. Previously, I had thought that some of my friends who are in the insurance field were trying to sell the medical insurance coverage policies because they wanted to make profit. But they later shared with me all the horror stories faced by their friends and relatives that had made them so passionate about their field. They were the initial ones who had emphasized to me on the rising medical costs- and why people had to seek treatment from private hospitals.
The Best ‘Spiritual’ Insurance We can Undertake
Many skeptics would not agree with me but it still have to be said. I believe the best insurance we can take is through our own deeds towards others.
We cannot control the circumstances of life that hit us but we can control our own input and reaction to life. It is still advisable to take up insurance policies when we are healthy so that we can have some coverage just in case.
But for those who cannot afford, and those who also want additional security…. invest in your deeds towards others. Help others- and try not to expect anything in return. The funny thing is, when you need help the most, help would come to you.
It is not always about money and insurance coverage. For instance, if a person had been attacked and bleeding, all the money in the world would come to naught if no kind Samaritan stops to rush him to the hospital in the nick of time.
Many people with no money get healed of serious illness and even more with money who died from it despite spending their entire fortune in treatment. That’s why, I have seen it’s not always about the money.
Help comes in many ways and even in ways that we cannot see it. An inexperienced doctor may cure a patient where a well known specialist failed to. We can see a long list of the rich and famous who could not make it despite affording the best specialists and treatment in the world.
On the other hand, there’s poor people who lived in the villages and cannot even afford to take the bus to go to hospital in town had managed to have their cancer under remission through methods such as inexpensive herbal medicine, prayer, turning to spiritual life. I’ve seen this with my own eyes during my travels.
Our deeds define us- it’s not all, but people who spend their life earning money through dishonest means may soon have to ‘return’ the money back in the form of expensive but ineffective medical treatment. Again, I am not saying that it happens to all- but I’ve seen cases.
Because mental peace and conscience plays a vital role- if we live our lives guided by a clear conscience, not doing harm to others, we are not stricken with so much fear when a life and death situation comes along. That itself can give one of the mental agility to deal with the situation. It is recognized that a person’s state of mind plays an important role in healing and recovery. This I learn from my personal experience- initially when I first stay in jungles, I was terrified. Later as led my life guided by a clear conscience, I find my fears slowly diminishes. In a place totally undeveloped and so pitch dark that you cannot even see your own palms, and you know you would not stand a chance of surviving should a cobra come over and bite you, you can still sleep by telling yourself, ‘well, I’ve done nothing wrong, and if my time is up, it can happen anywhere, even in town and in the safety of my own home. ”
This post was originally written by me and published on 30 April 2012.
