By Andrew Green, Staff Reporter 
Junor
LIFE OF Jamaica has launched an insurance plan intended to provide a cash benefit in the event of a diagnosis of cancer, heart attack or stroke.
The Triple Protector Plan was launched at the Life of Jamaica (LoJ) New Kingston headquarters on Friday.
"This was my baby," said Albert Lyon, chairman of the LoJ production club. The agent said he had been working for the last five years to get the plan implemented.
The problem is that the risk involved is "very high," Mr. Lyon said.
"Among the health challenges facing the Jamaican population and the Ministry of Health, is the increasing level of chronic diseases in the population," said Minister of Health John Junor. The Minister was guest speaker at the function.
"Chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, and cancer now account for 56 per cent of deaths annually, and a very high level of disability," Mr. Junor said. "Chronic illnesses by their nature require long-term often lifetime treatment and are rarely cured."
COST FOR HEALTH CARE
Treatment and management of these diseases contributes significantly to the rising cost for health care, putting a strain on families and Government alike, Mr. Junor said.
"The introduction of the Triple Protector should be a cushion that will help those insured to recover more quickly as a significant sum is assured to assist with immediate health-related costs as well as more general financial concerns," the Minister said.
"Coping with a critical illness is not cheap," said Tommy James, LoJ assistant vice president for corporate communications. "The technology which may save your life could very well destroy your financial well being."
The maximum sum insured is $1.5 million, with coverage being available in varying amounts. The lump sum payment is intended to provide assistance in treatment and recuperation.
Last year 5,658 patients were discharged from public hospitals and the University Hospital of the West Indies with a diagnosis of cancer, the minister said. Of these, 3,672 had malignant cancers while 1,986 patients had benign cancers.
Those over 40 years old registered the highest number of cases, but 268 patients in the 0-19 age group were also discharged from these hospitals last year for cancers.
Heart attacks also afflicted more persons in the older age groups with 63 per cent of patients discharged from hospital being in the over 60 age group, followed next by the 40-59 age group with 30 per cent of patients discharged who had a diagnosis of myocardial infarction or heart attack, Mr. Junor said.
STROKES
A similar pattern was evident for strokes with 76 per cent of those patients being discharged from hospital being in the 60 and over age group. Again the next most affected age group is the 40-59 age group, comprising 18 per cent of patients being discharged. "It is a bold step," for Life of Jamaica to have introduced the plan, Mr. Lyon said. "The risk involved is very high."
For the programme to be managed successfully, insurance agents will have to sell a large number of policies in order to spread the risk across a wide cross-section of the population, Mr. Lyon said. And given its features, he said, "We should sell a lot of this product."
