This archive report was first published on 8 October 2019.
On October 8, 2019, ICEA Lion Group made history by launching Kenya's first stand-alone cancer insurance cover, offering premiums as low as Sh165 per month.
The product aims to alleviate the financial burden on families affected by cancer, which claims the lives of 32,987 Kenyans annually, according to the World Health Organisation's Globocan report for 2018.
Business development and technical services general manager George Nyakundi explained that the cover will cater for the financial needs of patients from diagnosis, treatment, surgery to palliative care and relapse.
"Cancer management and treatment can be very expensive, averaging Sh2.5 million," Mr Nyakundi noted, adding that the product is designed to save families from the agony of selling property or fundraising to meet treatment costs.
The premiums will vary depending on factors such as gender, age, habits, the period of the cover, and medical history. For instance, 18-year-old male non-smokers seeking a sum assured of Sh1 million will start with premiums of Sh165, while smokers at the same age will pay Sh370 a month.
Mr Nyakundi emphasized that the cover comes with inbuilt remission bonus and also covers benign brain tumours with an additional 10 per cent of the sum assured.
The cover is open to Kenyans between 18 and 59 years who have been cancer-free for a year before taking up the cover, with an assured sum of between Sh1 million and Sh15 million depending on premiums contributed.
