I’m not sure about you but I know I am getting dinged each and every year for additional premiums for private health insurance coverage. As it stands right now, for just my husband and myself, we pay $250.00 per month for the joy of having private health care coverage. This includes prescriptions, excluding the drugs we were already on when applying for coverage because they consider that an existing condition, selective dental and eye care coverage and a list of alternative health care that you pretty much have to beg to receive such as chiropractic, massage therapy and physio care.

I see ladies all the time in my business that have coverage for mastectomy products that they do not get on a regular basis. I believe that the insurance companies love these women as they get the money for their premiums, whether it be a group or private plan, and do not have to pay out much in return. It is time to turn that thinking around.

If you don’t know exactly what your coverage includes, I encourage you to contact your insurance provider and find out exactly what you are covered for and start using it. That is the whole reason you have additional coverage, to use it for when it is needed. I believe that the insurance companies count on you not using what you are paying for and in some cases that is why they make you jump hurdles to get your coverage. Go ahead and jump, and jump high because it is time we started fighting back.

In Canada we have a government provided health care system, so when you go to the doctor because of a cold or if you have to have an operation, it is done with no charge to you …directly. We do pay for these services through extremely high taxes, and here in Nova Scotia our taxes are among the highest in all of Canada and rising on a steady basis. Unfortunately, over the years, the insurance companies have gotten too much power and have denied people with out any consequences to them and this in turn allows them to continue denying while still collecting the premiums.

When I see other countries standing up for what they believe through peaceful demonstrations, I feel very saddened when I look at Canadians. For some reason we don’t seem to care enough about ourselves, and others, enough to stand up and fight for what we believe in. We do, however, like to complain about everything but have no desire to do anything about it. We have grown to be a very complacent society, and don’t think for a minute that the government and/or insurance companies don’t realize this, and in some instances count on it. A full 80% of the population will not stand up for themselves and I find that very disheartening. When did we come to believe that we are not worth it??

I recently had a client who was here on vacation from another province in Canada. During her visit, her six year old breast prosthesis broke open and she came to me to get a replacement. She did have private health insurance, Blue Cross to be exact, so I questioned her on whether she needed new bras as well because usually they are covered by private insurance as well. She did not know if she had coverage or not so I encouraged her to ask Blue Cross about this. She returned about a week later to purchase two mastectomy bras because she had found out that she indeed was covered by her private health insurance plan. She has been a breast cancer survivor for six years and did not know that she had coverage for mastectomy bras, but was very happy to learn that she did and said she would be back next year for her two new bras.

I have been like so many of you; I didn’t want to use my insurance because it could, in turn, raise my premiums. Well, our premiums have been steadily increasing each and every year, so I now take full advantage of anything my private insurance covers. The insurance companies hope that you will not do that because it saves them money. Like I said before, they are taking your premiums and not paying out so in turn they are making millions of dollars each year and their profits continue to grow. It is time to start believing you are worth it and if you are lucky enough to have additional health insurance coverage, find out exactly what you are covered for, and start using it.

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