The Self-Employed Income Reality
A self-employed tradesperson earning $80,000/year makes roughly $300-400/day. A week off work for health issues costs $2,000+ in lost income. A month waiting for a specialist appointment loses $8,000+.
Employees with sick leave have paid income protection. Self-employed people have zero income protection unless they've specifically arranged it.
Health insurance is one way to protect that income through faster access to diagnosis and treatment.
The Waiting List Cost
Public specialist waiting lists run 8-16 weeks. For a self-employed person, that's an existential problem. You can't work while waiting for assessment, so you either: - Lose income waiting - Go private out-of-pocket (costs $15,000-30,000 for many conditions) - Try to work injured/ill (productivity drops 30-50%)
Health insurance solves this: private specialist available in 1-2 weeks, diagnosis in weeks instead of months, you can return to work sooner.
The Disease Impact on Income
A diagnosis of any serious condition (cancer, cardiac disease, arthritis) requires time for assessment and treatment. During that time, work capacity is reduced or zero.
A cancer diagnosis for a self-employed person could mean: - 8 weeks off work for surgery and recovery - 12 weeks of chemotherapy (30-40% of work weeks lost) - Year-long recovery period with reduced capacity
Income loss: easily $50,000-100,000+ over the treatment period. Health insurance doesn't replace that lost income, but it at least covers medical costs, freeing limited resources for living expenses.
The Surgical Waiting List Killer
A self-employed carpenter develops a wrist problem requiring surgery. Public waiting list: 12-18 months. Private with insurance: 4-6 weeks.
The self-employed person can't wait 12 months — they lose income every day. Health insurance gets them treated faster and back to work sooner. That's not luxury. That's business survival.
Income Protection vs Health Insurance
Some self-employed people buy income protection insurance (pays 60-70% of income if you can't work due to illness). This is separate from health insurance.
The combo of income protection + health insurance is ideal for self-employed people: - Health insurance gets you treated fast (back to work sooner) - Income protection covers your income while you can't work
If choosing between the two, income protection is probably more critical (it covers your entire income loss). But health insurance is the second priority because faster treatment equals faster return to work.
What Cover to Get
For self-employed Kiwis, we recommend: 1. Major medical cover with $500-750 excess (not surgical-only — specialist access is critical) 2. Income protection with 4-week waiting period if you have savings, or 2-week if you don't 3. Review annually as your business income changes