Chance of claim

Due to advances in modern technology, cancer survival rates are increasing.  But without cash to pay for treatment, some people are unable to meet the financial cost of potentially life saving medical treatment.

 

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), one in two Australians will develop cancer before turning age 85, and one in five people die from cancer as a cause of death.

 

In the 25 years to 2007, the occurrence of cancer increased by 27 per cent however deaths from cancer declined by 16 per cent.  The advances in modern medicine and treatments available has meant that more people are surviving cancer compared to the past.

 

Further, 66 per cent of people diagnosed with cancer now live longer than 5 years after diagnosis compared with 47% 20 years ago.

 

The types of cancers with the largest increases in survival gains are prostate cancer, kidney cancer and non-Hodkin lymphoma.

 

The types of cancer with the highes survival rates are testicular, lip, prostate, melanoma of the skin and thyroid cancer.  All have 5 year survival rates greater than 90 per cent.

 

Unfortunately, there are types of cancers with low survival rates, with less than 10 per cent 5 year survival rate.  These are pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma.

 

For people who are diagnosed cancer and survive 5 years, there is a 90 per cent chance of living for another 5 years for all cancers combined.

 

Given that treatment costs may spam a decade or longer, having appropriate funds to ensure you can meet the medical costs are essential.  Trauma insurance provides a lump sum insurance proceed upon diagnosis of a covered condition.  Over 90% of trauma insurance claims are paid for heart attack, cancer and stroke.

 

Although most people think that private health insurance and Medicare is enough to meet medical costs of serious illness, in the case of cancer, the out of pocket gap of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and so on can be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

So not only will trauma insurance help with the gap costs of medical treatment, it may assist in a better outcome and chance of recovery as some of the financial burden, both medical and general living can be relieved after a truama insurance claim is paid.

 

See the below table for the increase in survival rates for all cancers combined:

 

  • 1982-1987 – 47%
  • 1988-1993 – 52%
  • 1994-1999 – 58%
  • 2000-2005 – 62%

Are you financially prepared for the treatments that go along with surviving serious illness?  Contact James Gerrard on james@financialadvisor.com.au or visit www.FinancialAdvisor.com.au to learn more about trauma insurance.