How insurance can help with breast cancer-related expenses
Published:Wednesday | October 23, 2024 | 12:07 AM
BREAST CANCER is one of the fastest-growing diseases among women. According to the World Health Organisation, one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every four minutes and the disease claims a life every 13 minutes. This makes timely disease diagnosis with health insurance for breast cancer a must for all women.
Most insurance companies in Jamaica offer critical health insurance plans that provides coverage for breast cancer and other critical illnesses. In relation to breast cancer, critical health insurance assists in covering the cost of the surgery, radiotherapy, hospitalisation, chemotherapy, ICU charges, pre-hospitalisation, diagnostic tests; depending on the scope of the policy.
Breast cancer is usually covered by critical illness insurance plans and not under regular health insurance plans. This is because breast cancer is a critical illness and most regular health plans do not provide coverage for critical illness. At the most, they would provide coverage for hospitalisation expenses.
Lump sum payout
On the contrary, critical illness insurance plans are designed to cover critical illnesses. Such plans will pay you a lump sum amount as soon as you are diagnosed with the disease, irrespective of the actual treatment cost. It can assist with your medical expenses incurred during breast cancer treatments.
According to Dollis Campbell, insurance advisor at Guardian Group, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women today. Given the high treatment cost of breast cancer, buying a critical illness insurance policy is recommended.
“It is very important to have critical care insurance as it relates to breast cancer. Our critical care insurance also covers other types of cancers, heart attack, stroke, paralysis and several other critical illnesses. It is best to have critical illness coverage before you get diagnosed with a critical illness. Once you are diagnosed, you will not be able to get the insurance coverage,” Campbell said.
Campbell indicated that critical illness coverage is important as medical treatment and care is expensive in Jamaica. “If you have a critical insurance policy, once the illness is confirmed by your doctor, you can claim on your critical illness policy and the money is paid over. No matter what stage it is, you will get the money to assist with your medical needs,” she said.
Women, and men she said, should aim to get covered and have their annual check-ups. She noted, however, that when you purchase a critical insurance policy there is a six-month waiting period, before any claim or disbursement can be made.
“Go and speak with an insurance advisor and complete the application process. You must have a valid identification, and your first premium, whether monthly, quarterly, half-annually or yearly. We do not sell critical illness policies after someone has turned 60 years old. The minimum coverage is $1.5 million and it goes up to $50 million, depending on your critical insurance plan,” Campbell said.
Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis can be both financially and emotionally draining. It is important to have critical illness insurance that covers breast cancer adequately if you want to protect your family and yourself. Making educated judgments can be aided by thoroughly understanding the many facets of critical illness insurance coverage, including waiting periods, and out-of-pocket costs.