Manage Your Personal Health Condition with Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness insurance provides emergency funds when they’re needed most. In the event you are afflicted by with a life-threatening illness, from Alzheimer’s disease to cancer to kidney failure, make sure you are financially able to manage your condition and also provide for your family. Some chronic conditions require long-term care that will not be covered by disability coverage or life insurance. Individual critical illness insurance is the answer.

What is critical illness insurance? How does it work?

• Critical illness insurance is a form of supplemental health coverage, covering the cost of treating and managing a variety of life-threatening illnesses.
• Individual critical illness benefits are typically paid in a lump sum, often 30 days after an illness occurs or is diagnosed. (If signs of the illness do not persist after the 30-day waiting period, benefits are not paid.) Coverage limits can be as high as $1 million.
• Personal critical illness premiums are based on policyholder’s age, gender, and family health history. Most policies generally terminate at age 65 to 75. Men and smokers generally pay higher premiums. A history of hereditary disease can make some ineligible for coverage.

Benefits of Individual Critical Illness Insurance:

• A variety of serious health conditions are covered: Alzheimer’s disease, angioplasty (heart bypass), cancer, heart attack, kidney failure, major organ transplant, paralysis, and stroke.
• Policyholders can use their critical illness benefit any way they want, from making mortgage payments to retrofitting their car for a wheelchair to supplementing their income while out of work.
• Critical illness policyholders don’t have to be disabled or employed to collect their benefit.
• Personal critical illness insurance premiums are often refunded to a policyholder’s beneficiary or estate if the policyholder dies without applying the plan’s benefit.

The Ins and Outs of Critical Illness Insurance:

• Read your policy’s fine print. Demand clear definitions of covered conditions. Make sure the plan has short payout periods and lump-sum benefits. Inquire if there are riders available for your spouse and children.
• Use the Internet to compare policies and request critical illness insurance quotes. Often costs for similar policies from different carriers will vary.
• Select highly rated insurers graded “A” to “AAA” by companies such as A.M. Best and Standard and Poor’s.