- Critical illness insurance plan provides coverage for critical illnesses
- They offer larger sum to manage the cost of expensive treatment of critical illnesses
- The lump sum payment can be used to manage health care expenses other than the hospital bills
- The sum assured of critical illness insurance can be an income replacement
Ritik is an analyst in an IT company, and was diagnosed with arrhythmia during his routine heart check-up. Since irregular heartbeats can be life threatening he was advised implantation of a pacemaker. The hospital handed him a bill of ₹7 lakh for the total procedure. He had a regular health insurance of ₹4 lakh, but had no critical illness plan. He had to pay the remaining bill, and the cost of post-hospitalisation treatment from his own pocket.
Moral Of The Story
Given the rising incidence of life threatening diseases, having a critical illness health insurance plan becomes important. These plans offer lump sum (fixed) benefits that can help cover the costs of treatment beyond hospitalisation. They complement your health insurance plan to meet total expenses towards the treatment of these diseases.
What Is Critical Illness Insurance?
Critical illness insurance policies provide coverage for life threatening diseases, that require treatment over a long period of time. Some of these illnesses include heart condition, cancer, paralysis, kidney failure, benign brain tumour, amongst others. Usually, treatments of these diseases are extremely costly.
Let’s Understand The Importance Of Critical Illness Insurance
One of the reasons that make critical illness insurance essential is the large cover it offers. It covers major critical illnesses with different range of severity.
I am healthy, do I need coverage for critical illness?
Yes, the occurrence of critical illnesses is on the rise. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has projected the occurrence of 17.3 lakh new cases of cancer and over 8.8 lakh deaths due to the disease by 2020.
According to the Global Burden of Disease Report released on September 15, 2017, heart disease is still the leading cause of death in India. It was responsible for over 1.7 million deaths in 2016.
Apart from the coverage of major critical illnesses, critical illness insurance offers wider cost coverage at nominal premiums. Treatment of critical illnesses are expensive. For example, the cost of lung cancer surgery can be upwards of ₹4 lakh, while chemotherapy cycles can be around ₹2 lakh.
Critical illness insurance offers lump sum amount, which adds to its importance in managing healthcare expenses. The lump sum is paid irrespective of the hospitalisation bills. This amount can be utilised for post-hospitalisation medication, transport, accommodation, at home treatment and other related expenses.
Another benefit of having a lump sum amount is income support. Critical illness may keep you out of work for a couple of days, leading to inconsistency in the flow of income. The lump sum can be used as income replacement during that period.
- Increase In Chances Of Survival
Critical illness insurance plans play an important role in combating critical diseases. Most individuals afflicted by a critical illness are unable to undergo treatment due to lack of funds. With critical illness insurance plans, patients can get the right treatment, which in turn can enhance their chances of survival.
Bottomline
Critical illness cover in addition to regular health insurance policies can provide more comprehensive coverage. You would be better placed to tackle the financial challenges that will arise. Choose Exide Life Sanjeevani and Exide Life Critical Illness Rider, which offer wider health coverage.
