Medical claims for cancer spike in young adults
Financial services group Liberty says cancer was the main cause of claims across all age groups in SA in 2016
More South Africans in their twenties and thirties‚ are being suffering from — or dying from — cancer‚ often because of late diagnosis. Financial services group Liberty told a media briefing on Tuesday that cancer was the main cause of claims across all age groups in SA in 2016. It said 15.2% of claims — mainly for life and loss of income — came from young people‚ while 24.4% of claims emanated from young parents — in their twenties and thirties. Liberty paid out R4.3bn in claims in 2016 — 13% more than in 2015. Henk Meintjies‚ head of risk product development at Liberty‚ said: "This amounts to R17m every working day. These statistics reveal concerning trends in health and lifestyle risks, with cancer and cardiac and cardiovascular conditions being the main causes. "The cancer statistics are relevant to the insured population‚ which reveals a high incidence of breast cancer for females. It is the number one claim for women‚ while prostate cancer is the top claim among men. "The Sout...
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