Should your generation be spending money on private health insurance? Why or why not?

The question ain’t fair! I’m a financial adviser. How can I possibly say “no”?

And I wouldn’t say no. But I will say, emphatically, the government is making it really hard to say “yes” for Gen Xers. A bigger grudge purchase than insurance normally is.

The Federal Government just ticked off on premium increases of an average of 5.6 per cent – more than 2.5 times current inflation.

That came after the removal of 30 per cent rebates for higher-income earners from July. For many, from April 1, health insurance will cost 50 per cent more than a year ago. It’s an income bracket that will affect Xers and Boomers more than most.

About 54 per cent of Australians have private health insurance.

But household finances are under pressure. And like in that scene in Flying High, occasionally the brown, stinky, stuff hits the fan, at speed. And when it’s your health, you don’t want to be on that trolley waiting for a room.

If you earn in excess of $84,000 as a single or $168,000 for a couple, then you’re going to have to pay the hefty Medicare surcharge if you don’t have private health cover.

And then there’s the age penalty. If you’re over 31, there’s an extra 2 per cent extra per year.

Private health insurance cover is a horrendously frustrating and complex system.

But Gen Xers, more so than most, with our tin lids and our big mortgages and our finances stretched to within a tissue paper of snapping … yeah, Gen Xers need health insurance. Just bite your tongue and buy it.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting.