Let's face it; us men don't like admitting we are wrong do we? We are stubborn like that.
But by being stubborn about something important like medical insurance, could not only cost us our health, but our financial stability too!
Men in the UK are walking a health tightrope after it was revealed that 20 million of us have no critical illness protection or private medical insurance.
According to Friends Provident, 9 out of 10 of us are leaving ourselves open to significant financial hardship should we become critically ill; this despite 80,000 men dying from cancer each year, 52,000 to coronary heart disease and a further 21,000 from strokes.
The findings are perhaps even more surprising, given that 13 million of us here in the UK regularly check ourselves for signs of serious diseases!
Nearly 30% of men acknowledged that we are concerned about our health and are guilty of not looking after ourselves as well as we should.
The data also revealed a financially reckless trend amongst men:
Read our Guide to Life Insurance
So then, doesn’t it make sense for us men to be taking a closer look at medical insurance?
After all, who know what could happen in the future?
It goes without saying, that spending lots of money on medical insurance won't stop you getting ill. What it will do is make sure that you are in a better position to deal with the financial implications that come with serious illness.
What type of medical insurance is best?
This is probably the best known and it pays for private consultations and treatments, allowing you to bypass NHS queues…which is sometimes a very good thing!
As a private patient you can often choose when treatment will take place, the specialist who treats you and the hospital. You will usually have the privacy of an en-suite room complete with TV and other home comforts.
Some illnesses and treatments will not be covered by a private medical insurance policy and these are common to most schemes. It is also important to remember that this insurance is not designed to replace all the services offered by the NHS. Some, such as accident and emergency, are beyond the scope of most private hospitals.
Some employers will offer you this insurance and it can also be bought individually.
The main drawback is that it can prove expensive for comprehensive cover; especially as you get older.
This is often sold to you if you are taking out a mortgage along with basic life insurance. Rather than pay directly for private treatment, this insurance is designed to give you a tax-free cash sum on the diagnosis of certain life-threatening diseases.
The idea is that this money will enable you to pay off your mortgage, reduce your working hours or take extended leave to recover.
Most critical illness policies cover about 30 conditions, and all should cover cancer, heart disease and stroke. But within these broad definitions there are numerous exclusions. Some types of breast, prostate and skin cancers, for example, which are not considered "life-threatening" are routinely excluded on many policies.
Rather than cover specific ailments, this pays out a regular income if you are unable to work through ill health. Provided a doctor has signed you off sick, these policies should pay up, regardless of the nature or severity of your illness. As well as covering cancer and heart disease, these policies help those with back problems, stress or depression.
So what should you buy, given most of us don't have the financial capacity to pay for them all?
Well, you should ask yourself what would happen to your income if you had a long-term health problem or illness.
If you work for an employer like the police or the NHS, then you may have more generous staff benefits that would pay long-term sick pay at a reasonable rate. But most of us don’t have this luxury to fall back on.
Basically, if you have dependants or debts (which is most of us), then you should ensure you have adequate income protection in place as a first priority.
Ideally, all of us should have income protection, critical illness cover and a basic life insurance policy; usually in that order of importance.
Naturally, given the stats we mentioned at the start about serious illness, some of you may opt for private medical insurance, but you have to weigh up the its advantages against its cost, which can be high.
Having said that, what price can you put on your health?
Its the most important thing you have!