Many here are not well-prepared financially to cope with cancer if and when it strikes, a study has found.
About four in 10 of those polled said they would not be financially prepared to manage the costs of cancer treatment.
Respondents cited unaffordable premiums as the key reason for not getting insurance coverage for cancer.
Even among those with health and/or critical illness insurance policies, only 5 per cent were very confident that their policies would fully cover the cost of cancer treatment in the future, while 29 per cent were not confident at all.
These findings from a survey of 1,200 Singapore residents were released in January 2024. The survey was conducted in August and September 2023 by Blackbox Research and is part of an ongoing study by DBS Bank, the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) and Research for Impact Singapore.
Cancer is the leading cause of death here, accounting for 28.2 per cent of all mortalities between 2017 and 2021, according to the most recent annual report from the Singapore Cancer Registry.
Over that period, lung, colon and rectum, and liver cancers were the main cause of deaths among males, while for females, breast, colon and rectum, and lung cancers had the largest number of mortalities.
Dr Jen Wei Ying, a consultant with the Department of Haematology-Oncology at NCIS, said the potential costs associated with a cancer diagnosis depend on several factors, such as the type of cancer, the stage of cancer, the treatment plan and the patient's overall health conditions.
One major expense is medical bills, which often include hospitalisation and costs of treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, Dr Jen said.
There are also costs associated with blood tests, scans and cancer drugs, she added.
The Government provides a comparison of the fees for common conditions and procedures charged by the different hospitals in Singapore.
This story is from the January 29, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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This story is from the January 29, 2024 edition of The Straits Times.
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