Do we take Healthcare seriously?
What brand of shirt & trouser do you wear? Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Polo! Each costing you atleast a couple of thousand bucks!! How often do you go to restaurants, pubs? Once in a week, twice in week, costing atleast 500 Rs each time.
Irrespective of whether you are a young bachelor, or a young couple recently married & having one or no kids or you are a middle aged person with a high school going child, there’s no denying that the spending pattern of the Indians have changed a lot in the last few years. Everyone spends on br&ed products. The local tailors have long perished at the on-set of major apparel br&s. India is on a move. Everyone earns decent amount of money in the metros. Thousand rupees has no value today in the metros.
Have you ever thought how we react when we talk about the spend on Healthcare. My God!! His fees is 400 bucks. He just made a big hole in my budget. My goodness, this medicine costs 94 Rs. I stopped the Antibiotics because I got well in 2 tablets. You know what - each tablet costed 14 bucks. The Doctors these days just give you expensive medicine!!
Come on, I just want to ask these so called Rising Indian Middle Class. They can spend thousands on a shirt, thousands on a massage, facial, pedicure, hair cut; lakhs on a foreign trip. But when it comes to their own health, it seems they become the same old small town middle class hesitant to spend every penny they have. It is very surprisng to see people cribbing for Doctors fees, medicine cost etc when their vehicles would have guzzled up more petrol in reaching the Doctor & hospital. It’s all in the mind. Service industry is still in shambles because people don’t want to pay unless it becomes a question of life & death. Very few people buy health insurance on their own, citing reasons like their company gives them an insurance coverage already. How small is that corporate provided insurance, nobody cares.
Is it time when we start taking our health as seriously as we purchase our shirt or buy a pizza!! How many of the people over 30 actually go for a full body check up each year? How many have ever paid for it? Everyone is looking for FREE items when it comes to his/her own health. According to a survey, 90% of the young people in Bangalore have undergone health check up only because the health insurance company mandated them to get it done for free. Had it been a paid service, again, very few of these 90% would have been even insured.
Interesting to read such findings but it is time when we start allocating a certain percentage of our income. Even 2-5 Rs. per day to take care of our health coverage for life. People need to understand that health is not a one time down-payment item. It needs to be invested throughout the life time. Why become so stingy when it comes to our own health.
