Don't Be Stingy With Health Expenses

This is the problem when one's stingy with health. Health is also wealth. If the only thing one thinks about is money then they're missing the point. If one only thinks about financial wealth then one hasn't truly seen another depth of wealth which is health. I've seen some people who have had their stupidity with generational stinginess (read here). If I'm not wrong, the boomers (1946-1964) tend to suffer from a lack of flexibility to change. Some people have even dismissed insurance calling it useless. However, what they don't see is that insurance could've covered problems like temporary relief for their loved ones or reduced the costs of hospitalization bills in the long run.

It's one thing when people have contingency savings. It's good to set money aside for emergencies. Buying insurance and paying it monthly or annually is part of the plan. However, some people just hold on too much to their money. Some older generation people refused to even deposit their money in the banks. Instead, they decided to hoard the money and hide it in what I'd call ridiculous locations. Some of these locations could be under the mattress, in a safe in the attic, or maybe even digging a hole like in the story The Miser and His Gold. This can also affect how they would be looking only for financial wealth without thinking that health is also wealth.

I was reminded of a joke I heard on the radio. I think it was more than 10 years ago. An injured man tried to haggle with his rescuer. The injured man insisted to be taken to the hospital on a jeepney. The rescuer said that it'd be quicker with an ambulance. The injured man then haggled to be transferred to a public hospital. The joke was at first, funny until I realized that the injured man was really spelling his own doom. The rescuer got so frustrated that he left the injured man to die. Wrong as it is but somehow, I could sympathize with the rescuer who dumped the injured man who tried to haggle with his health.

Recently, I've had a minor eye operation for a developmental cataract. What if I decided to stinge on the expenses? I could imagine what stupid decision I could've made. I could've decided not to go to an eye surgeon and opted for an albularyo (Translation: witch doctor). I could imagine if I would have had my eye operation done by an albularyo, which means shaman or witch doctor. Chances are these would be both painful and unsafe. Chances are I'd completely lose my vision as a result. The albularyo would probably make me drink some yucky potions that will never benefit me. Maybe, it might be made of spiders, roaches, rats, ashes, and anything that will not benefit me one bit. It's one thing to avoid thinking of only what's delicious discounting the nutritional value. It's also another thing to be eating yucky stuff that's not beneficial to one's health. It's one thing to reduce sugar intake, have less salt, and the like. Even "food for the poor" can be a delicious and nutritious meal. However, eating rotten meat and vegetables will never benefit anyone.

Some overly old-fashioned people (barriotic has become a popular term for that) preferred to let their growing boys be circumcised by an albularyo. True, one can save money (at least temporarily) with such transactions. However, this reminds me of the scene in the movie Ang Tanging Ina (The Only Mother) where one of the 12 children had a back-alley circumcision and got seriously ill. I really find the whole circumcision rite at the barrio to be rather stupid. Doctors performing the rite will use anesthesia and render antibiotics. Albularyos are probably just going to worsen the situation.

Then it could compound into more expenses all because of purchasing cheap, ineffective treatments in the name of "saving money". What's the use of having spent less now if you're going to end up speaking more later? Then when you need to spend more later--you still haggle. It's really stupid since spending more money on health and safety isn't the same as spending ridiculous sums of money on branded goods. Sure, haggle all you want in the marketplace. However, health is something to never haggle since your body is irreplaceable.

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