If you and your partner decide to bring a child into the world, under capitalism your regular health insurance policy may already cover pregnancy and the child. But if not, other providers line up to offer pregnancy insurance to cover the rare but potentially financially ruinous possibility of a medically intensive pregnancy or your child being born with, or later developing, a rare disease.
Insurers also offer you and your family catastrophic accident and health insurance in the event misfortune strikes. And for routine care and minor health issues, you shop around to find the best doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers your money can buy. Perhaps you choose a monthly fee plan that covers the basics and that has guaranteed prices for non-catastrophic procedures and ER visits. Or perhaps you prefer to shop around each time you need to see a doctor.
And as you approach old age, the catastrophic accident and health insurance that you signed up for early in life is still in place to cover the increasing risk of serious illness. And those retirement savings that we talked about earlier are large enough to provide the final safety net to cover additional healthcare needs as the sunset nears.
Think Right or Wrong, Not Left or Right 