The fear of being diagnosed with cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has triggered a shift in life insurance buying habits among Jamaicans, resulting in 25 per cent of new policies bought over the last three years falling in the critical illness category.
Executive director of the Insurance Association of Jamaica (IAJ) Orville Johnson says that during that time, an average of 27,000 persons bought critical illness insurance policies, peaking at 28,472 in 2018.
“We paid out $763.5 million in 2018, an 18 per cent increase over the previous year. Critical illness claims are now showing the highest year-over-year increases as a category of claims,” Johnson told The Sunday Gleaner.
The insurance executive noted that critical illness policies, which companies started marketing about 10 years ago, have become a very significant part of the industry’s offerings.
“We started initially as just a cancer plan and then the name changed, and there was an expansion when you realise that you have other things that require those kinds of medical responses. They started being called critical illness insurance, not just in Jamaica, but across the world,” he said.
BANKRUPT BY HEALTH
IAJ Vice-President Vernon James is pleased that there is now a greater focus on dealing with non-communicable diseases through initiatives such as the Jamaica Moves Campaign, but statistics from the insurance companies indicate that most of the health claims made are as a result of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.
“You could easily become bankrupt because of your health, which is why you take out insurance. Insurance is not for the people who need it, and then when you need the insurance it is too late, because you can’t get it. What you need to do is to buy insurance when you don’t need it because that’s when you can afford it,” James said.
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