Introduction

Daffodil Day just went by on the 30th of August (which happens to be my daughter's birthday, so I guess I will never forget this day), and it made me think of cancer awareness.

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Daffodil Day's Slogan

Daffodil Day's slogan is "1 in 3 of us will get cancer in our lifetime. It could be you; it could be someone you love. Help them by donating this Daffodil Day."

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The Reality of Cancer

1 in 3 is a lot. It's sad, it's scary, it could be anyone from our household. We know that cancer does not discriminate by age, gender, social status, etc.

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What Can We Do?

What can we do? I want to believe that we can do something about it. My best friend's parents just got diagnosed with one type of cancer each, and they only found out about it because they started doing their yearly health checks.

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Public Health System

Is the public health system going to help us with that? Probably not, but we can be proactive if we have medical insurance.

And if we can't afford it, we have two options:

Option 1 is to get medical insurance with a high excess so we can afford it but making sure we have Non-Pharmac cover;

Option 2 is to try to get medical insurance through work. These are called workplace schemes, and employers pay for this as an employee benefit. The huge benefit is that it usually covers all your pre-existing conditions. Unfortunately, not everyone offers them, i.e., it may not be available if you are working for the government.

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Insurance Providers' Benefits

Another alternative could be using some benefits from the insurance providers. For example, I am aware that NIB offers $100 towards your checks after being a member for a period of time. They also offer cancer support; you can find more about it here. Accuro (now Unimed) and Asteron Life work with Teledoc and offer free access to different tools which could also help. These are mental health navigators, GP consults (not for prescriptions), nutritionist consults, second opinions (with the best worldwide specialists—I got a second opinion from a doctor from Harvard and felt pretty important), and more. You can find more about Teladoc here. Oh, and Teledoc can also be used by your partner, in-laws, parents, and kids (yes, all for free!).

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What Happens if You Get Diagnosed?

Lastly, what happens if you get diagnosed? Well, support is really important, and then whatever plan you chose for these cases will take place. If you are a high-risk person, you may have chosen not to get insurance, and that's fine if you have a backup plan and funds to cash in so you can get into your treatments ASAP.

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Medical and Trauma Insurance

If you got medical insurance, you probably also got trauma insurance (also called critical illness, progressive care, crisis cover, etc.), and this cover will assist you with financial costs and allow you to focus on fighting this cancer and not have to worry about work and money for you or your partner/spouse. If you can't afford comprehensive trauma cover as it can be pricey, then you could look at cancer cover that some providers offer as a standalone solution. Asteron and AIA offer these; there may be others.

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Claims Information

Below are some stats around Cancer from some of our insurance providers. You can clearly see that cancer is a leading cause for claims. Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer were the most common claims.

The average age at claim was 52 years old.

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Asteron Life's stats on Trauma claims (period 1/7/22 to 30/6/23):

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From Partners Life - Stats are from the last 13 years:

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From AIA:

In Conclusion

Being proactive about securing medical insurance coverage is crucial in the fight against cancer.

By taking steps to obtain insurance, whether through personal plans or workplace schemes, we can ensure that we have the necessary support and resources in place. This proactive approach not only provides financial security but also allows us to focus on our health and well-being, knowing that we are prepared for any challenges that may arise. If you want to explore some options to sort some cover out for yourself or your family, feel free to reach out to myself or my team. We arrange cover for people all the time and we help people to make successful claims when it comes to crunch time too.

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Giovana.

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About Giovana

Hola, I’m Giovana, and I am a Client Services Manager but also a Financial Adviser here at Velocity. I have 12 years of experience in the industry and one of my passions is to bring excellent customer service, I like to deliver the best experience to our clients and make processes as smooth as possible, to give them the service that I would like to receive. In my outside work life, I am a mum of 2 girls and love dancing, especially Peruvian cultural dances.

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Disclaimer: Giovana Paulin (FSP1007277) is a Financial Adviser with Velocity Financial (FSP95466). No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. Please see our disclosure statement on our website.

Always get professional advice

The information shared in this post is meant to be general guide to support you on your journey. When making important decisions about your finances, we encourage you to seek independent financial advice first, tailored to your unique situation.  As well as talking with a financial adviser, make sure you talk to your lawyer and accountant too – together they'll help you find the best solution for your specific situation. Our knowledgeable financial advisers are here to help. Check out our website for the details about our financial advisory services in our disclosures  https://www.velocityfinancial.co.nz/disclosure-statement.

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