Can you afford an organ?
Watching a National Geographic program on illegal organ trading reminded me of the recent legal case of kidney buying in Singapore. It made me ask myself, will I become a buyer one day? Would I be able to afford it?
Not many countries allow organ trading. Coupled with the lack of organ supply globally made illegal organ trading a lucrative trade. ‘Transplant tourism’ rose out of this unmet demand. In Singapore’s case, the Health Minister has refused to rule out organ trading in the future. To me, that’s as good as saying that it will be legalised in the future.
To those who think that a good hospitalization and surgical plan will cover all medical needs, think again. Do you know that the private medishield plans only cover the medical cost of the organ transplant operation on the insured? The cost of getting the organ from the donor is not covered. And if it is legal to purchase 1 in the future, the cost of purchasing an organ is not covered as well.
Under Risk Management, such risks can be controlled by prevention (having a healthy lifestyle) or financed. In Risk Financing, you can choose to retain the risk and self-finance. Alternatively, there is the simplest way of financing through Insurance (critical illness coverage).
Faced with the certainity of death unless another organ is found, what would you do? Are you able to afford what you chose to do?
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