- Provides a lump sum upon diagnosis of a critical ailment
- Covers high costs ranging from treatment to post medical care
- Prevents depletion of savings and sliding into a debt trap
- Acts as a source of income during prolonged treatment period
With the rise in stress levels and sedentary lifestyle, critical illnesses are no longer rare. Affecting almost all sections of society, these ailments may affect any person at any time without warning.
In such a scenario, it is imperative to have the financial muscle to combat the ailment. A critical illness plan is a lifesaver in such situations that would help you overcome hard times with an optimal level of preparedness.
What is a critical illness?
Certain life-threatening diseases qualify as critical illnesses. For instance, cancer, which affects over 7 lakh people in the country per year, accounts for 5.5 lakh deaths every year according to reports.
Alzheimer’s disease, a disease that turns healthy individuals into painful sufferers of lost memory, affects hundreds of thousands of people each year. Other critical illnesses include chronic lung disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, loss of speech, head trauma, heart valve surgery, etc.
The advantages of having a Critical Illness (CI) plan
Note that regular health insurance plans are indemnity plans that cover only hospitalisation costs. However, critical illnesses not only incur huge treatment costs but also require prolonged treatment. Worse, it may impair a person’s ability to earn.
The greatest advantage of a CI plan is that when you are diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, the lump sum amount from your critical illness plan will cover the exponential cost of treatment.
This not only prevents your savings from drying up but also stops you from sliding into a debt trap. This will prevent financial disruptions in your life while ensuring that your savings do not deplete.
Here are three ways a critical illness insurance plan acts as an absolute lifesaver during traumatic times:
- Covers treatment costs: A Critical Illness plan can help cover expenses that your regular health insurance may not. Costs such as expenses for doctor’s consultation fees, operations, chemotherapy, and radiation are covered by a majority of critical illness plans.
- Covers allied costs: Lump sum payout from critical illness plan can help as income replacement during recuperation phase. During recuperation period, one may not be able to work and source of income may stop. In this case the lump sum payout received from critical illness plan can help meet all expenses that regular income would have helped meet.
- Lump sum payout on first diagnosis: In case a policyholder is diagnosed with one of the diseases mentioned in the policy document, irrespective of the stage of the disease, the insurer pays a lump sum amount basis the severity. For example, Exide Life Sanjeevani, a fixed benefit health insurance plan offers cover against different stages of heart and cancer conditions. A fixed amount is paid upon diagnosis of conditions falling under different severity category.
A critical illness plan provides your family with the much-needed financial security and peace of mind while dealing with critical ailments. It prevents your savings from being wiped out during treatment. It also ensures your financial goals are on track and you meet your existing liabilities with ease.
