What is your number? The high the level of risk, the higher the insurance premiums you will pay...
Did you know: Liberty was the first insurer in South Africa to introduce rapid testing as part of their underwriting process in July 2012? This practice was further entrenched with the introduction of rapid testing for cholesterol recently. Coupled with
Cholesterol presents few or no outward symptoms, and is fast becoming a silent killer, contributing to the deaths of many South Africans. Raised cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease and stroke and as such impacts on the level of risk that you pose in an insurance contract. When applying for a life insurance policy, depending on your age, your medical and family history, your insurance company might include a cholesterol test as part of the underwriting process.
We all have the responsibility of no longer denying the effects of this growing epidemic, as it might soon become the number one cause of preventable death. Simply put, we are consuming too many unhealthy foods and exercising far less than required, leading to various chronic illnesses.
“The impact that cholesterol has on the life insurance industry is increasing at an alarming rate. It is one of the top three medical conditions presented on insurance application forms. Liberty is the first insurer in South Africa to use rapid testing to screen for cholesterol at application stage. The introduction of the cholesterol rapid testing kit means that our clients are now getting their cholesterol test results at appointment stage (if they are required to undergo a test as part of the application), thereby allowing them to understand their health risks better and truly own their lives,” says Nicholas van der Nest, Divisional Director for Risk Products at Liberty.
The rapid testing screening technology means that the experience of being underwritten for a risk insurance policy is improved significantly and that issue times are also reduced.
“We also provide customers who undergo a cholesterol test with a booklet – ‘the Health Passport’, to help guide them and offer information and knowledge that allows them to really understand the health risks that they are exposed to, to make the necessary changes to own their lives,” says van der Nest.
“When considering a risk insurance application, an underwriter has to ensure that the applicant’s health risk profile is in line with the risk profile of an average person. The higher the risk, the higher a premium is likely to be,” adds van der Nest.
“Cholesterol presents no outward symptoms and the only way that you can detect any threat to your health is through screening,” says Dr Philippa Peil, Medical Officer at Liberty.
Cholesterol is as a fatty, waxy substance that is naturally found everywhere in the body. “Cholesterol is produced by the body and is therefore not required in your diet as an essential nutrient,” says Dr Peil.
However, much of the food that we eat contains cholesterol, resulting in high levels of it passing through your bloodstream with the excess getting deposited on the arterial walls. The excess causes the narrowing of the veins. The higher your cholesterol, the higher your chances are of suffering a cardiovascular event such as a heart attack.
Dr Peil says that yearly screening tests are encouraged to check cholesterol levels especially in people with other health risks to ensure that early lifestyle changes and treatment can be implemented before organ damage results.
