Practical Tips That Will Help You Prepare For Serious Accidents Or Illnesses
It’s impossible to prevent any bad things from happening to us. That is why accidents exist and strike at any time. While it also should be said that preventing accidents can occur if you attempt to take the proper measures to be safer, it’s not a guarantee. Preventing yourself from getting injured or ill is something that should be exercised by anyone and can help you in more ways than just protecting your health.
Accidents happen, we try our best to mitigate the risks, but sometimes you can’t do enough and mostly you can’t control other people’s actions or behaviors. You can’t police every irresponsible driver, but you can decide not to eat junk food every day. Knowing how to prevent serious accidents and illness is something that is hard to do, and doesn’t always work, but it’s better than nothing. It’s simply good to be prepared, so here are tips on how to do so.
Know What Kind of Coverage You Have
For Canadians, you can breathe a deep sigh of relief knowing that plenty of everyday issues that can occur as a result of accidents or illnesses are covered by the universal healthcare system. However, you’re not out of the woods and clear from medical expenses entirely. It’s always advised that you check out what level of coverage you have. In Ontario, this could be some level of provincial protection with Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), while in B.C., they have something similar to that with the Medical Services Plan (MSP). You might also have more extensive coverage with a work or family plan or your own private coverage, but carefully check to see what kinds of injury and illness expenses it may or may not protect you from.
Consider Finding a Better Insurance Plan
If you have a risk of disease, like cancer, that runs in the family, you might want to consider more extensive coverage that protects from expenses that don’t fall under a provincial plan. In this instance, you want to start looking for a better plan. You will need to shop around, get quotes, and find the right deductible and premiums that work for you, but you want to consider what potential medical problems may befall you. Whether it’s a hereditary risk for a disease or if it’s some kind of increased exposure to danger because you like to do adventure sports like whitewater rafting, take into account all of the variables that you need for coverage. A good health insurance plan will help your peace of mind when you know that a trip to the hospital won’t destroy your savings.
Build an Emergency Savings Fund
On that note, you still should have a fairly large savings account dedicated to emergencies. Having this emergency fund is good for a couple of reasons. 1.) The obvious fact that you’ll have money in case your health insurance won’t cover the full costs of an operation or medicine 2.) The fund can be used for other emergencies, like a car repair, and 3.) Helps you budget smarter. If you can successfully build a true emergency savings fund, you can be a little less anxious about unexpected injury or illness. It’s not hard to build one, and you can invest in a high-interest saving account to get more compounded interest if you don’t end up dipping into it for a long time.
Eat Healthier, Be More Active, and Engage in Safer Behavior
The last piece of advice that you should consider is that you really need to be more responsible in your personal life. This means eating better, getting more exercise to stay fit, and not doing stupid things that will get you hurt. Commit to a more well-rounded diet that will keep your body feeling fresh and functional for longer, ditch tobacco if you can, and cut back on alcohol. You should also try to get a minimum of 30 minutes of intense exercise a day. Running, jogging, skating, swimming, skiing, weight lifting, whatever it is, you need it. And lastly, try not to do too much dumb stuff. You want to live your life and have fun, but do more risk-reward evaluation on risky behavior that could end up getting you hurt.
Preventing injuries and illness is something you should strive for by being prepared, and even though accidents are unpredictable for the most part, you do play a big role in how possible they are to happen to you. These practical tips have shown you have simple it can be to be ahead of the curve to protect if or when they do occur.
