{"id":264778,"date":"2025-10-30T07:40:43","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T08:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=264778"},"modified":"2025-11-01T07:02:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T07:02:20","slug":"point-of-view-why-critical-illness-cover-is-essential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/point-of-view-why-critical-illness-cover-is-essential\/","title":{"rendered":"Point of view: why critical illness cover is essential"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Critical illness cover is still treated as a luxury in South Africa, something for the wealthy or overly cautious, rather than a financial necessity. Yet actuarial estimates show that more than 24 000 formally employed South Africans will be diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer, a heart attack or a stroke in 2025. Despite this, over 85% of income earners have no critical illness cover at all.<\/p>\n

I used to be one of them. Like many others, I assumed that medical aid would be enough. It wasn\u2019t until a close friend, healthy, active, and in her early 40s, was diagnosed with a serious illness that I realised how quickly life can change. She had to take extended time off work, and while her medical aid covered some of the treatment, it didn\u2019t come close to covering everything. The financial strain was immediate. Her family had to dip into savings, take out loans, and rely on support from friends. It was a wake-up call.<\/p>\n

The 2025 Insurance Gap Study by ASISA and True South Advisory includes critical illness cover for the first time. According to actuary WS Nel, who led the research, this marks a significant expansion of the study\u2019s scope. But unlike death or disability cover, it\u2019s not possible to calculate a precise insurance gap for critical illness. That\u2019s because people often return to work after recovery, and the financial impact varies widely depending on the illness, treatment, and personal circumstances.<\/p>\n

Nel explains that critical illness cover is designed to provide a lump sum payout when someone is diagnosed with a serious condition. It\u2019s meant to help with lifestyle adjustments, medical shortfalls, and treatments not covered by medical aid. It\u2019s not about replacing income permanently; it\u2019s about staying afloat during recovery.<\/p>\n

South Africa was the first country to introduce critical illness products in the 1980s, thanks to Dr Marius Barnard, who saw the financial devastation that followed major health events. Yet decades later, the uptake remains low. At the end of 2024, South Africa\u2019s 16.1 million formally employed income earners generated R4 trillion in gross earnings, but their critical illness cover amounted to just R1.1 trillion, a coverage ratio of 26%.<\/p>\n

And the gap is not evenly spread. \u201cWe believe that in the case of critical illness cover, estimating an average cover per income earner distorts the reality of a highly uneven distribution,\u201d says Nel. \u201cMore than 85% of earners have no critical illness cover, while a small minority hold high levels of cover.\u201d The wealthiest 20% of earners have a coverage ratio of 31%, and those with university degrees are the most likely to have policies.<\/p>\n

This is even though critical illness is one of the most relatable risks. Most of us know someone who\u2019s had cancer or a heart attack, but few personally know someone who\u2019s been rendered permanently disabled, says Nel.<\/p>\n

The most commonly covered conditions are heart attacks, cancer, strokes, and coronary artery bypass grafts, accounting for more than half of all claims, according to ASISA\u2019s Standard on Disclosures for Critical Illness Products. The Standard, introduced in 2009, aims to improve transparency and help consumers compare policies. But awareness remains low, and affordability is a barrier.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t plan for illness the way we plan for death. We assume we\u2019ll be fine until we\u2019re not. Critical illness cover isn\u2019t just for the wealthy. It\u2019s for anyone who wants to protect their future, their family, and their dignity in the face of a health crisis. I\u2019ve learned that the hard way, not through personal illness, but by watching others struggle. And I\u2019ve since made sure I\u2019m covered.<\/p>\n

* Maleke is the editor of Personal Finance.<\/em><\/p>\n

PERSONAL FINANCE<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Critical illness cover is still treated as a luxury in South Africa, something for the wealthy or overly cautious, rather than a financial necessity. Yet actuarial estimates show that more than 24 000 formally employed South Africans will be diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer, a heart attack or a stroke in 2025. Despite this, over 85% of income earners have no critical illness cover at all.I used to be one of them. Like many others, I assumed that medical aid would be enough. It wasn\u2019t until a close friend, healthy, active, and in her early 40s, was diagnosed with a serious illness that I realised how quickly life can change. She had to take extended time off work, and while her medical aid covered some of the treatment, it didn\u2019t come close to covering everything. The financial strain was immediate. Her family had to dip into savings, take out loans, and rely on support from friends. It was a wake-up call.The 2025 Insurance Gap Study by ASISA and True South Advisory includes critical illness cover for the first time. According to actuary WS Nel, who led the research, this marks a significant expansion of the study\u2019s scope. But unlike death or disability cover, it\u2019s not possible to calculate a precise insurance gap for critical illness. That\u2019s because people often return to work after recovery, and the financial impact varies widely depending on the illness, treatment, and personal circumstances.Nel explains that critical illness cover is designed to provide a lump sum payout when someone is diagnosed with a serious condition. It\u2019s meant to help with lifestyle adjustments, medical shortfalls, and treatments not covered by medical aid. It\u2019s not about replacing income permanently; it\u2019s about staying afloat during recovery.South Africa was the first country to introduce critical illness products in the 1980s, thanks to Dr Marius Barnard, who saw the financial devastation that followed major health events. Yet decades later, the uptake remains low. At the end of 2024, South Africa\u2019s 16.1 million formally employed income earners generated R4 trillion in gross earnings, but their critical illness cover amounted to just R1.1 trillion, a coverage ratio of 26%.And the gap is not evenly spread. \u201cWe believe that in the case of critical illness cover, estimating an average cover per income earner distorts the reality of a highly uneven distribution,\u201d says Nel. \u201cMore than 85% of earners have no critical illness cover, while a small minority hold high levels of cover.\u201d The wealthiest 20% of earners have a coverage ratio of 31%, and those with university degrees are the most likely to have policies.This is even though critical illness is one of the most relatable risks. Most of us know someone who\u2019s had cancer or a heart attack, but few personally know someone who\u2019s been rendered permanently disabled, says Nel.The most commonly covered conditions are heart attacks, cancer, strokes, and coronary artery bypass grafts, accounting for more than half of all claims, according to ASISA\u2019s Standard on Disclosures for Critical Illness Products. The Standard, introduced in 2009, aims to improve transparency and help consumers compare policies. But awareness remains low, and affordability is a barrier.We don\u2019t plan for illness the way we plan for death. We assume we\u2019ll be fine until we\u2019re not. Critical illness cover isn\u2019t just for the wealthy. It\u2019s for anyone who wants to protect their future, their family, and their dignity in the face of a health crisis. I\u2019ve learned that the hard way, not through personal illness, but by watching others struggle. And I\u2019ve since made sure I\u2019m covered.* Maleke is the editor of Personal Finance.PERSONAL FINANCE<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":264780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-264778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264779,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264778\/revisions\/264779"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}