Critical Illness Insurance: What is it?

Critical Illness or Catastrophic Illness insurance...have you heard of it?  Maybe not, but in the event of a major health condition such as cancer, heart attack or stroke, this coverage could protect you from a major financial hit.  Few, if any major medical (health insurance) policies, will protect you 100% from the financial burdens of a major medical event.  Therefore, a supplemental Critical Illness policy could provide the financial protection many would need.

Although our life expectancy continues to increase, it provides more opportunity for us to face these critical illnesses.  Some may even reoccur multiple times in our lives.  With great medical insurance, just one catastrophic illness can bring on financial burdens that none of us plan for.  Most Critical Illness insurance provides protection against these major illnesses:  Heart attack, Stroke, Organ Transplants, Cancer and Coronary Bypass.  We are all familiar with them and we know their potential costs.  So how would you pay for the extensive medical care that these illnesses require?  If you don’t have a large enough emergency fund or a nicely funded health savings account (HSA), most will have a hard time paying these bills.

How does Critical Illness coverage work?  These policies are designed to be simple to understand.  Most of these plans will pay a lump some benefit upon diagnosis of one of the covered illnesses.  Benefit amounts can be purchased in coverage increments of $5K or $10k, up to $100,000 plus.  You will typically be given an opportunity to choose an amount based on your perceived risk or ability to afford the monthly premium.

Critical Illness coverage can be purchased for as little as $5 to $10 per pay period. It can be purchased including cancer coverage or without in some cases.  The idea is that you can make an affordable purchase that could potentially pay a lump sum amount that would protect you from the financial burdens of these major health events.  They bring on enough stress for you and the family; the last thing we need to worry about is how we will pay for our care.