This archive report was first published on 20 December 2019.
December is a time for celebration and indulgence, but it's also a time to think about our long-term health and wealth. While some of us travel to visit family or enjoy the holidays, many of us will choose to stay at home and enjoy the festive season.
However, the familiar cycle of repentance that follows in January is all too common. We join a new gym, cut out certain foods from our diet, and make overly ambitious New Year's resolutions, only to drop them by March.
But what if we could break this cycle and plan for a lifetime? Having worked in health insurance for over a decade, I've seen firsthand how quick fixes don't work and how we get stuck in an unhealthy 'sin-repent-repeat' vicious cycle.
Health and wealth are two closely connected concepts that require long-term planning. We need to move away from the one-year planning cycle and plan for a lifetime. We can protect our wealth and health and still have fun.
The three basic tenets of wealth management are: create wealth, preserve it, and transfer it. This involves investing in skills, knowledge, and technology that increase your income at work or in business.
However, investing in health isn't that straightforward. Illness often comes unannounced, affecting not just our physical health but also our finances. In some cases, family and friends have to chip in to settle our medical bills, disrupting their finances too.
But it need not be a hit-and-miss game. Health insurance can make it less stressful and more predictable. Unfortunately, only 20% of Kenyans have access to medical coverage, with some people unable to afford it and others lacking information or misunderstanding the concept.
According to the World Bank, the lack of health insurance leaves people without cover vulnerable to medical bills, which are the single-largest documented cause of poverty in Kenya. Ministry of Health statistics, published in 2016, estimate that one million Kenyans are driven into poverty every year by unaffordable medical bills.
Health insurance is not just about your health, but also the wealth of your loved ones. It's not about making you richer, but protecting your finances and those around you from the crippling effects of medical bills.
