S1E95: Protect your health and your wealth from your 20s

Health Check

Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

In this episode, we look at why you should start insuring yourself against critical illnesses when you are in your 20s or early 30s.

Cancer, heart attacks and stroke are three common critical illnesses in Singapore. We are living longer but we may be spending more time in poor health. Looking at government statistics, we can see that in Singapore, cardiovascular disease accounted for 32 per cent of all deaths in 2021. This means that almost one out of three deaths in Singapore is due to heart disease or stroke. Spotting a stroke early can help to save a life. Recovery after a stroke, however, may take a long time..
Most millennials and Gen Z are busy establishing their careers. Growing their wealth is likely to take priority over protecting their health, but this is the time to think about health insurance.

ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo finds out more from neurosurgeon Dr Chou Ning from Chou Neuroscience Clinic and Eddy Lim, who is the head of Propositions and Portfolio Management, at Great Eastern. This episode is brought to you by Great Eastern: https://str.sg/w9qr

Highlights (click/tap above):

1:15 Incidence of stroke among younger age groups is about 10-15% of entire stroke cohort

3:15 Among survivors of stroke, 50% would still be chronically disabled after one year

4:10 Risk of recurring stroke within the next five years

6:39 Avoiding placing financial burden on your parents; plans that can cost as low as $20 a month to cover critical illnesses

9:11 Dr Chou on a recent case of a healthy 46-year-old patient who came in with some weakness in his left hand; eventually diagnosed with a small ischaemic stroke

11:54 Tip: Consider cover critical illnesses one time, and covering recurrence with a rider for a second payout

More about Great Eastern's Great Critical Cover Series: https://str.sg/w9qV

Help cancer survivors in their rehab journey: https://str.sg/w9qC

About Great Eastern: https://str.sg/w9qy

Produced by: Joyce Teo ([e-mail]), Ernest Luis, Teo Tong Kai and Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh

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Luvut

1. Protect your health and your wealth from your 20s (00:00:00)

2. Stroke among younger age groups (00:01:15)

3. Stroke survivors disabled after 1 year (00:03:15)

4. Risk of recurring stroke (00:04:10)

5. How low can monthly CI coverage go? (00:06:39)

6. Case of patient with small ischaemic stroke (00:09:11)

7. Critical illness: Riders to cover recurrence (00:11:54)