14% of South Africans will develop cancer - do you have a safety net in the instance of becoming a statistic?

Nicholas van der Nest, Divisional Director for Risk Products at Liberty

Almost four Soccer City stadiums of people die each year in South Africa due to cancer. This scary yet very real statistic came out of this year’s World Health Organisation’s report, reflecting on last year’s reality.

According to the Cancer Association of South Africa, over the next two decades cancer cases across the world are set to increase from an estimated 12.9 million cases in 2009 to 27 million in 2030. Locally, we see one in six men and one in seven women at risk of developing some form of cancer during their lifetime.

Reflecting on the statistics, both locally and internationally more people are being affected by cancer and the need to have a safety net to cover one’s self during such a trying time is becoming more apparent.

During 2011 cancer was the leading cause of critical illness claims for insurance house Liberty and yearly trends indicate that more women are being diagnosed with cancer every year. In 2011, 38% of Liberty’s critical illness claims (or R101 million) were cancer related. To most of us, these are astonishingly large figures, but what does it mean for the man on the street?

Whilst there is no doubt that cancer related claims are in the high numbers, one has to wonder what the financial implications are for an individual who suffers a critical illness and what measures can be put into place in order to prevent becoming bankrupt in the instance of falling ill?

A critical illness such as cancer can impose severe financial and emotional hardships on those families affected, especially if contingency plans for such eventualities have not been put in place.

“Being diagnosed with such a condition is likely to result in significant pressure on your finances and you are likely to face a number of lifestyle adjustment costs. You may need to hire a caregiver temporarily or permanently, you might need to pay travel and accommodation costs to see an out of town medical specialist or you may need modifications made to your home,” says Nicholas van der Nest, Divisional Director: Risk Products at Liberty Life. “Having critical illness cover now, while you are still healthy and insurable, will assist you in not becoming financially burdened due to life's unforeseen events.”

When taking out risk cover, it is important to understand the cover you have, what it will pay for and what it won’t pay for. You may consider yourself reasonably well protected against the medical costs associated with a critical illness such as cancer, but have you considered the other associated financial costs of such an event?

Medical bills on average will account for a portion of the expense that you are likely to incur directly. Other indirect expenses could include a loss of income due to your illness, possible alternative medicines or treatments, rehabilitation therapy and even reconstructive surgery in some cases. The last thing you need when you are struggling to recover from a critical illness is the added financial burden of paying for your recovery.

“Critical illness cover helps alleviate the financial stress and it pays out on diagnosis of a serious life-threatening illness, disease or a health event to help meet the lifestyle adjustment costs related to that need,” explains van der Nest.

Due to the rapid changing nature of the medical environment, these changes affect the manner in which medical conditions are defined and diagnosed and in result, critical illness continues to be a major area of concern for many South Africans, and including both the insurance and medical industry. Due to the constant change in the medical industry around critical illness, life insurance companies need to not be rigid and evolve with the times and keep up with medical advancements of critical illnesses.

Critical illnesses are ever-changing. “Medical advancements in treating and managing cancer, as well as early detection, have led us to change the way we view critical illness cover, and keeping up with the evolving medical industry is essential in order to reduce the uncertainty when clients need to claim. Good critical illness cover should be flexible and should protect you from the financial and emotional consequences of a critical illness,” concludes van der Nest.