Healthcare made sensible

The more financially self reliant they become – or are encouraged to become – the more New Zealanders seem to be saying "enough is enough" about comprehensive health insurance.

Ironic? Perhaps not, when you consider that New Zealanders have, following an obviously widespread reassessment of their personal health risk management, decided that the responsible move is to opt for major medical insurance instead.

New Zealanders are walking away from traditional comprehensive policies – covering everything from a doctor’s visit to a new set of glasses – to something far simpler and in most cases, cost-effective. While there are currently no industry figures for the size of this swing, the experience of individual insurers suggests it is profound. The worrying factor is that in their disgruntlement with comprehensive insurance, many New Zealanders are rejecting health insurance altogether.