“What are you doing with your retirement?” a friend asked me the other day. It was easy to answer: “I’m working at the customer end of the medical business.”

To be honest, I’m flat out. The knee surgeon one morning, the cardiologist the next, all topped up with visits to the optometrist and the dentist.

God knows how I used to fit in paid employment.

It’s the same for most of us who have reached a certain age.Credit: Getty Images

At each place, there’s a battery of tests. For example, the cardiologist wants to do three tests. There’s a “stress echo”, a blood-pressure test, and then a final stress test, conducted by the receptionist when she hands over the bill. Sure, the blood will drain from your face, but how quickly will your skin tone recover?

After she announces the figure, I hand over all the cards in my wallet: Medicare, private health insurance, credit card, Woolworths Rewards, the lot. She works away at her machine and, it turns out, I get a quarter of it back plus an ongoing discount at Bunnings.

I’ve now reassessed that message they broadcast on train stations: “Beware of the gap”. I used to think it was a safety notice but now realise it’s a warning about health cover.

All the same, I have great respect for the medical profession. Slowly, successfully, they’re........

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