Source: Times Live
South African women are taking more responsibility for their health by going for regular check-ups‚ ensuring earlier detection and minimising the staggering costs of treatment.
This emerges from Momentum's 2015 claim statistics‚ announced on Thursday.
"There seems to be a steady increase in the prevalence of critical illnesses like cancers‚ strokes and heart attacks. But with the amplified awareness of illnesses like breast cancer‚ people in general‚ are more prone to go for screenings and check-ups‚" said Stephen van Niekerk‚ Head of Retail Life Insurance Products at Momentum.
The insurer has noted an increase in the number of claim pay-outs for early stage critical illnesses.
"This is very much in line with the increased awareness of critical illnesses that leads to more regular screenings and medical check-ups‚” said Van Niekerk.
In total‚ R398 million was paid out by the company for critical illness claims during 2015.
Cancer‚ cardiovascular and nervous system related diseases accounted for 68 percent of all Momentum’s critical illness claims.
The data showed 45 percent of Momentum’s female cancer claims are for breast cancer.
The company noted how high the costs of treatment are.
South Africans‚ with medical aid‚ pay more than many First World countries for hi-tech medical procedures with costs like R8‚800 for an MRI scan and R304‚000 for a heart bypass‚ Momentum said.
Advanced cancer treatments such as Immunotherapy‚ which basically uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancers‚ make use of newly developed drugs that could easily cost in the region of $130‚000 for a 12-week course‚ and some patients need more than one course of treatment.
Herceptin is another biological new super drug that is used to treat breast cancer. It is normally prescribed during advanced stages of breast cancer at a cost of R25‚000 per dose with an average of 17 doses in a 12 month cycle totalling approximately R425‚000 a year.
In 2015‚ Momentum Retail Insurance paid out R 3.1 billion in claims across all benefit types. Apart from the critical illness claims‚ this included R2.4 billion in death claims‚ R242 million in disability claims and R91 million in income protection claims.