At
the start of 2013 all seemed to be going well for Kemi and her family.
Their first child had just started university, her husband’s business
was beginning to turn around after a difficult year, and they had
finally completed their own home and recently moved in.
It seemed like
it was going to be a good year. In April, Kemi noticed a small but
palpable lump on her left breast. Her doctor referred her to a teaching
hospital and a biopsy confirmed that she had stage three aggressive
breast cancer.
Kemi had surgery in May at a cost of
N100,000 to remove the lump and she is now having a course of
chemotherapy which is costing her N40,000 each week. She will need six
sessions in the first instance. She will require a second operation in
due course, followed by radiotherapy for which a down-payment of
N100,000 is required. Beyond this she is told that she will require
treatment for at least five years for ultrasound scans, blood tests,
kidney and liver function tests, chest x-rays, and so on; some of these
will have to be repeated.
Members of Kemi’s extended family
rallied round as best they could but now the exorbitant costs over a
prolonged period of time have made it impossible for them to continue to
contribute as they did in the early stages of her treatment. Her
husband has no choice but to put their new home up for sale to release
badly needed funds to try to save her life.
October, “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”
is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. It affords
us an opportunity to focus on this dreaded and devastating disease that
appears to be becoming more and more prevalent. While many people are
aware of breast cancer, many neglect to actually take the steps to have a
plan to detect the disease in its early stages and when there is a much
greater chance of survival.
One of the key messages for Breast
Cancer Awareness Month in the United Kingdom is that one in eight women
will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Whilst we are not absolutely
certain of the statistics in Nigeria, it is alarming that increasingly
we all seem to have lost or know some one who has been badly affected by
this killer disease.
Most people tend to overlook the
financial implications of a serious illness. In our society it is seen
as a taboo to even consider the possibility that one could become really
ill let alone the fact that one could die; it is like tempting fate.
Yet statistics indicate that one in eight women will be diagnosed with
breast cancer.
Far too many people ignore the need for
insurance until a major mishap or setback occurs; it is only then that
the impact of inadequate insurance coverage is glaring. No matter how
meticulous you are with your finances, failure to purchase adequate
insurance can impair your financial future and put you or your loved
ones in a desperate situation in an instant.
How healthy are you? If you or anyone in
your family were to ever become gravely ill, can you afford the best
medical treatment available? Do you have health insurance in place?
Health insurance covers some of the cost of treating the insured
person’s illnesses or injuries. In some cases, it pays for preventive
care, such as annual physicals and diagnostic tests. You may have health
insurance as an employee benefit from your job or you may also buy
individual health insurance directly from an insurance company. You then
pay premiums to purchase coverage and the insurer is obliged to pay
some or all of your healthcare costs, based on the terms of your
contract.
Health insurance varies significantly
from plan to plan. Generally, most plans will cover a combination or
hospitalization, prescription drugs, and treatment for serious
illnesses. Dire medical conditions are difficult enough to cope with; if
you become ill, the last thing you need to have to worry about is
mounting financial challenges.
As morbid as it sounds, can your loved
ones afford to lose you? Could your family or dependants pay for the
funeral, organize the family finances, service any outstanding debt and
continue in their current standard of living? Or, would they face
extreme hardship in the event of the death of their breadwinner? The
main objective of life insurance is to replace income that would be lost
should the policyholder become incapacitated or die.
At some point in time you might need to
call upon some form of insurance. Whilst insurance will not eliminate
the risk of loss or damage to property, injury, illness or death, it
does relieve the insured of at least some of financial losses these
risks bring. The cost of coverage of all these scenarios is far lower
than if you were to have to service them if they do indeed arise. If you
don’t have the necessary insurance cover, do make this one of your
financial priorities before the end of this year.
If you can afford it, try to put a solid
health insurance policy in place that can help you have access to the
health care you will need if you are diagnosed with breast cancer or
some other deadly disease. It is imperative that you read the fine print
and understand your coverage just make sure it will actually provide
the necessary coverage should you ever need it.
Critical illness cover is a relatively
recent addition to the life insurance industry. It was never intended to
replace health, life or disability insurance. Instead, its purpose is
to fill the gap in existing medical insurance coverage to pay for
illness and specific kinds of treatment not ordinarily covered by
traditional insurance or for any other expenses the insured wants to
spend the lump sum on.
A family history of a certain illness
may be enough for the company to exclude that disease. Most policies are
priced based on the age, gender and family history so the more medical
questions you can honestly answer no to, the better.
Of course nothing is more important than
early detection through regular mammograms and clinical breast exams.
Since breast cancer is a disease that affects so many women, all women
should make sure that they have regular screening to improve their
chances of early detection. Take the necessary, precautions, protect
yourself by having an early detection plan in place and encourage your
daughters, relatives and friends to do the same.
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