Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), is a debilitating illness that can severely affect your daily life and the quality of your work. If you’ve been diagnosed with CFS and want appropriate life insurance, Special Risk Managers can help you find the coverage you need. Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive life insurance package or adequate income protection and TPD insurance for your work, our team of insurance specialists will help you find your best options.
Special Risk Managers are experts at providing life insurance advice and guidance to people with serious medical issues or special situations. We’re known for our ability to find cover for those whom most standard insurance companies would consider uninsurable, so you can be sure we can help your case.
Call us today on 1300 665 356 to talk to one of our specialists or contact us if you need more information about what we can do for you. At Special Risk Managers, we’ll help you protect you and your family’s future despite your chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis.
The Difficulty With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Like many other serious medical conditions, chronic fatigue syndrome is typically difficult to get adequate life insurance for because of the following reasons:
- Underlying causes aren’t entirely understood – The exact cause of CFS is still not completely understood, although research suggests genes may be a significant factor. Unlike other established medical conditions, however, chronic fatigue syndrome has really only been considered a serious illness in the past several decades, and much it still unknown about it. This makes it difficult to predict as an illness, which increases its level of risk in the eyes of insurance providers.
- Similar symptoms to other illnesses – Another difficulty with CFS is that it shares similar symptoms with other medical conditions and diseases. This makes it difficult to diagnose properly, and it often requires numerous tests and re-diagnosing before fully determining CFS as the culprit.
- No known cure – CFS currently has no known cure, making it a constant risk factor for those who are diagnosed with this condition. Although there are proven treatments for managing or alleviating symptoms, the fact that there’s still no cure for it makes it a high-risk factor for many insurance providers.
- Varying degrees of severity – Chronic fatigue syndrome affects people in different ways, with some experiencing severe symptoms while others show only minor effects. This adds to its unpredictability and makes it a challenge for insurance companies to create standard insurance policies for it.
If you’ve been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis, then you probably already know how difficult it can be to get adequate insurance cover with this condition. Despite this difficulty, it is possible to get an appropriate level of insurance for CFS. All you need is to find the right insurance provider. If you need help finding life insurance for CFS or ME, please contact our team to get started.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome In Australia
According to the National Health and Medical Research Council, an estimated 0.07% of the Australian population suffered from CFS in 2013. This was roughly around 180,000 Australians.
Based on past research and statistics for CFS, this illness seems to affect all age groups and people from all socio-economic and ethnic groups. It does, however, tend to affect women much more than men. Even more troubling is the fact that only less than 20% of those who have it received a proper diagnosis or treatment for this condition. A significant number of these patients have also had this condition for several years.
The same source notes that the Royal Australian College of Physicians (R.A.C.P.) estimated this condition to cost the Australian economy $525 million per year back in 2000. It estimated this figure to be as high as $4 billion as of 2013.
Given this data, CFS or ME is clearly one of the most problematic and challenging neurological illnesses in the country today.
Although finding the right cover for your condition can be difficult, it’s not impossible. At Special Risk Managers, we’ll help you find your best life insurance options for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. We’ll explore your different options and find affordable and comprehensive cover according to the severity of your condition. This way, you’re less likely to pay unnecessary premiums and fees.
Call us on 1300 665 356 to get started. We’re experts at helping patients find appropriate life insurance, trauma insurance, total & permanent disability cover, and income protection insurance for special and difficult conditions.
Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Although chronic fatigue syndrome is not immediately life-threatening in many cases, it usually is a disabling condition that can severely affect the lives of those who have it. It can easily disrupt normal day-to-day activities and even prevent others from doing certain types of physical activities at all. Chronic fatigue syndrome typically presents itself as a combination of any of the following symptoms:
- Fatigue / severe loss of energy
- Memory loss and frequent lapses in concentration
- Pain in the muscles or joints
- Chronic insomnia
- Drastic weight changes
- Heart palpitations or shortness of breath after physical activity
- Gastrointestinal complications (e.g. nausea, diarrhoea, etc.)
- Frequent sore throat
Given these symptoms, it’s easy to understand how disabling CFS can be, especially for those who are working or studying. Not only can it cut back the amount of work you can do, but it can also affect the quality of your work as you’re doing it. This is why getting a proper diagnosis as early as possible is critical to managing symptoms and not letting CFS take control of your life.
If you’re currently working and have been diagnosed with CFS, getting appropriate income protection or trauma insurance can also help protect yourself from any lasting effects on your career.
Why Choose Special Risk Managers
Chronic fatigue syndrome may be a debilitating illness, but it doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself and minimise its effect on your life. If you’ve been diagnosed with CFS or ME, know that there are plenty of things you can do to manage your condition and prevent things from getting worse.
Aside from getting a proper diagnosis and the right treatment options, you can also get the appropriate life insurance or TPD insurance to help protect you and your family’s future. And if you’re currently employed, you can also take out proper income protection insurance or trauma insurance to make sure you’re protected if you have to stop working because of it.
At Special Risk Managers, we’ll help you find your best life insurance options available, no matter how severe your CFS may be.
To get started, simply call our 1300 665 356 to talk to one of our specialists. You can also send any enquiries to info@specialriskmanagers.com.au or fill our contact form to learn more.