Awareness Articles (1)- Dealing with cost of illnesses

Publication : New Straits Times
Date : 11 July 2010
Section : News
Page : 10
Headline : Dealing with cost of illnesses

Dealing with cost of illnesses

THE statistics for chronic illnesses in Malaysia are less than encouraging with the Health Ministry saying that one in every six Malaysians succumbs to heart ailments.

In America, 1.3 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year, someone suffers a coronary problem every 29 seconds and someone suffers a stroke every 45 minutes.

In Malaysia, the Health Ministry has stated that heart disease is the number one cause of death, making up 16.5 per cent of all deaths in our hospitals in 2008.

It is also estimated that some 40,000 new cases of coronary heart disease occur each year. For a population of 28 million, this means there are 4.52 new cases per hour.

But while the statistics may look grim, the survival rate is often quite encouraging if diagnosis is made early and treatment given at the early stage of illness.

Thanks to medical advancements, the recovery rate is encouraging now when compared with many years ago. In most cases, surviving patients continue to lead productive lives.

Nevertheless, surviving patients need to make provisions for rehabilitation, specialised treatment and dietary adjustments which mean financial support is an essential part of the recovery. Many survivors are caught off-guard with insufficient financial protection.

According to a study by the Employees Provident Fund in 2008, members at the age of 54 have an average savings of only RM132,540.

Another survey by a bank showed that Malaysians only have 11 weeks' of savings. In the event of a job loss, but with continued regular expenses, one in five indicated their savings would last only four weeks. This was only to deal with day-to-day expenses and did not include medical expenses for a major critical illness.

Medical cost for cancer treatment can reach up to RM300,000 while kidney failure needs RM150,000 and above. Major organ transplants, on the other hand, will need at least RM100,000.

Previously, critical illnesses were thought to be fatal but with medical advancement, critical illnesses are now treatable. The question is, do we have the access to funds for these treatments?

Critical illness treatment often involves long periods, rehabilitation and palliative cost, not to mention economic loss as the disease will often take its toll financially on patients and their loved ones.

Being financially prepared is very important during critical times ahead. With AXA Affin AssureCare, the primary focus is to lessen the financial impact and worries that arise from suffering a critical illness.

AssureCare is designed to put in place a comprehensive set of financial options to help you overcome a life-changing illness.

To start with, a guaranteed lump sum benefit will be available when the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the 36 critical illnesses so that he will have access to all possible treatments.

While the patient focuses on recuperating, the insurance policy sets aside additional funds annually to be available over a period of five years to support the recovery process.

Should the patient recover completely before the fifth year, the additional funds will still be made available over the entire stipulated period.

The financial support does not stop there. Policyholders will have access to potential annual cash dividends which can be accumulated into a supplementary fund to provide another pillar of support.

Preparing for critical illnesses is an essential part of financial planning but, sometimes, events beyond our expectations can happen.