Insurance, Anxiety, and Gratitude After Thyroid Cancer Surgery

 

Feeling Exhausted After Thyroid Cancer Surgery

Maybe it is just my imagination. Or maybe it is because part of my body was removed after thyroid cancer surgery. These days, I feel extremely tired.
After spending two months going back and forth to the hospital like it was my second home, it feels like all my energy has been drained.

I have private health insurance. I only recently learned how to file claims properly, so it has not even been that long since I started using it.
The insurance fee gets withdrawn every month, and the amount is not small. One of the two insurance plans my mother signed up for in the past has already expired.

After being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, I once received a phone call from an insurance company.
Normally, I ignore or avoid those kinds of calls, but for some reason, I pressed the answer button that day.

A woman with a very energetic voice excitedly explained the benefits of a new insurance plan for a long time.
I quietly listened until she finished, then casually asked,

“Can a person with cancer still sign up for insurance?”

The woman, who had been speaking kindly until then, sounded embarrassed for a moment before replying,

“It would also be good for your other family members to join.”

It was funny.
What I really needed was right now, but I could not sign up anymore.
There were now restrictions on insurance because of my cancer diagnosis.

Insurance Calls I Never Wanted

The insurance agent I already had also called several times to recommend new insurance plans for other family members except me.
She probably checked the records showing that I had filed insurance claims related to thyroid cancer.

I never told my parents that I had cancer.
But during one phone call, the agent suddenly said,

“The second daughter cannot join even if she wants to.”

I was shocked inside.
She was truly an unhelpful insurance agent.

My mother probably could not understand why my older sister could sign up but I could not.
Fortunately, she did not ask too many questions, so she still does not know even now.

Feeling anxious, I checked my older sister’s insurance coverage again.
There was a policy that only covered her until the age of eighty, even though people now talk about living to one hundred.
Still, the actual coverage itself was not bad.

Taking advantage of the situation, the insurance agent recommended another policy with strong cancer coverage.
But because there were already existing insurance payments, I felt burdened and could not continue with the contract in the end.

Why Do People Buy Insurance?

“Why do people buy insurance?”

I asked myself that simple question.
The answer was anxiety.

Insurance is really just insurance.
You pay every month like a savings plan, and if you get sick, you receive compensation.
Of course, it is best not to get sick, but health is something nobody can predict.

Until the very end, I recommended that my older sister choose a policy with longer coverage.
But later, I concluded that adding more insurance out of fear alone would only be a waste since she already had existing coverage.

I found it funny that I was already afraid of illnesses that had not even happened yet.

Aggressive Insurance Sales Still Feel Uncomfortable

Not long after my mother was discharged from the hospital due to a subarachnoid hemorrhage, the insurance agent once told me,

“If you had signed up for the insurance I recommended before, you could have received more money.”

This time, she said something similar again.

“If you had changed your insurance before, you could have received more compensation.”

I understand what she meant.
But at the same time, I could not stop wondering,

“Do people really need to sell insurance that aggressively?”

Maybe Two Good Insurance Plans Are Enough

I think having two solid insurance plans is probably enough.
To be honest, I do not know much about insurance.
Most of the plans were signed up for by my mother, not by my own choice.

I feel truly grateful to her.

“Thank you.”