‍As I sat recovering from my operation at Southern Cross Hospital, I was very appreciative of Velocity’s work health insurance scheme, ultimately making my elected surgery possible.

I was also struck by the fact that I sell health insurance and had never visited one of the hospitals properly before — my eyes were opened to a whole new world. And I now understood why clients’ favourite insurance is health insurance — something most of them at some stage get to touch and use. In fact, apparently, one-in-five New Zealanders have health insurance, so it’s more common than I realised.

Years earlier, I had been told that in the future I may elect to have a surgery done. I investigated the options. If I wanted to use one of the leading surgeons in New Zealand, I would have to go private and, without medical insurance, this would cost me personally tens of thousands. Going through the public hospital was an option and much cheaper (i.e. free) but I would have to have an older method of surgery and would not have the same flexibility with dates and times. Plus, my recovery would be much longer.

So, because of all this, for years, I did nothing and grew increasingly uncomfortable until finally Velocity came to the rescues and put the health scheme in place. The beauty of a group health scheme is that it covers all past health conditions, whereas a new individual scheme taken out by just me would not. I had never been to a private hospital before and could not believe what a lovely experience it was. From having my own private room to not being interrupted all night (unless it was for a five course meal, which unfortunately I felt much too sick to enjoy eating), I really appreciated the high quality of care. I felt very well looked after. I also had the option to stay an extra night when I was not feeling well and did not feel I was being rushed out to make room for a bed.

So, thanks again Velocity for making it possible for me to get the surgery I needed with a top surgeon and in a beautiful hospital. I am well on the way to recovery. I feel very fortunate to have been able to do this.

If you have a business with five staff or more you could also look to put a group health scheme in place. It used to be that you required a large number of staff to be able to access these schemes but that has changed. If you would like to know more about health insurance, please speak to your Velocity Financial Adviser.

Debra Halton is a Registered Financial Adviser with Velocity Financial. No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. A disclosure statement is available free of charge upon request.