THE STARK REALITY OF THE COST OF HEALTH CARE IN AUSTRALIA
Sickness and ill-health is not something that anyone likes to talk about. However, with the rising cost of health care in Australia, it is important that every Australian is aware of the incidence of ill health and the costs that they may face if they or a family member, was to fall ill or be involved in an accident. That way an informed decision can be made on whether purchasing insurance could protect their family if the unfortunate were to occur.
Research has just been released on the Cost of Care in Australia [1], highlighting the cost of treatment for illness and injury and the incidence rates. The research explains that Australian’s see our health system as a giant safety net that will catch us when we fall ill or suffer a serious injury, not taking into account the out of pocket expenses and ongoing health care that still needs to be covered.
THE FACTS
Cancer
According to the Australian Cancer Council 1 in 2 Australian men and women will receive a cancer diagnosis before they reach 85 with an estimated 138,000 new cases of cancer being diagnosed in Australia this year, with the number set to increase to 150,000 by 2020. [2]
The average lifetime cost of caring for cancer patients can be up to $95,460 (reference). Breast Cancer has an average lifetime cost of $36,040; Bowel cancer is $36,800 and Lung Cancer $74,600. [3]
Heart Attack
One Australian will suffer a heart attack every 10 minutes. With 400,000 Australian’s having suffered an attack at some stage throughout their life. [4]
There are many ways in which heart attack patients are treated, ranging from stent insertion to a quadruple bypass with the average cost of each attack costing $25,000. [5]
Stroke
When a person’s blood supply to their brain is disrupted, they suffer a stroke. There is one stroke every nine minutes in Australia with a person between the ages of 55 to 75 having a 1 in 5 chance of suffering a stroke. [6]
Strokes can cause many ongoing issues, with 65% of survivor’s suffering some form of disability which limits their ability to carry out daily living activities independently. The lifetime cost of health care for a stroke patient is $32,411 [7]
Accidents [8]
There were 483,673 injuries recorded in Australia in 2014-15. With 1 in 5 injuries concerning the head and neck. Accidents as a result of transportation account for over 50% of injuries followed by falls from over heights of 1 metre.
Injuries, especially severe injuries such as brain and spinal injury have the highest lifetime health care costs in Australia, with a moderate traumatic brain injury incurring a lifetime cost of $3 million dollars and paraplegia $6 million dollars.
TRAUMA INSURANCE
Having a Trauma Insurance policy in place is the ideal solution to protect yourself and your family if the worst is to happen. Sometimes called Critical Illness Insurance, it provides a lump sum payment when a specified illness or injury occurs allowing the financial freedom to cover your treatment, rehabilitation, family bills and time off work.
If you would like to find out more details about Trauma Insurance please contact your Planned Cover broker.
[1] Zurich. The Cost of Care: The missing link in the strategic financial advice equation, 2018
[2] Cancer Council, What is Cancer, Facts and Figures https://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/facts-and-figures.html
[3] Zurich. The Cost of Care: The missing link in the strategic financial advice equation, 2018
[4] Heart Foundation, Heart Disease in Australia https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/about-us/what-we-do/heart-disease-in-australia
[5] Zurich. The Cost of Care: The missing link in the strategic financial advice equation, 2018
[6] Stroke Foundation, About Stroke, Facts and Figures https://strokefoundation.org.au/en/About-Stroke/Facts-and-figures-about-stroke
[7] Zurich. The Cost of Care: The missing link in the strategic financial advice equation, 2018
[8] Zurich. The Cost of Care: The missing link in the strategic financial advice equation, 2018
