Will you believe it if I tell you that around 1,200 people are diagnosed with cancer by the time you finish reading this article. Yes, it’s no exaggeration, every minute around 25 persons dies of a heart attack. This is the reality of the modern world, every individual’s priority is a promotion at work, competition with colleagues to stay ahead, and health is somewhere at the end of the list. The lifestyle that includes smoking, stress, eating out, no time for exercise and the likes are considered modern, which worsen the situation further. So, let us talk about the best critical illness insurance plans.

As per the insurance estimates, young people around 25–35 years of age are the ones who are part of 40% of heart patients in India. Our younger generation constitutes a major chunk of people suffering from critical illnesses.

Critical ailments like lung disease, cancer, and other long-lasting health sicknesses are on a rise, which has very costly treatments and cause a financial crunch in the family where only a single member is the breadwinner. This happened to Vishal, a friend who was detected with cancer in the throat.

As per the doctors, chemotherapy and surgery was the only solution to get him rid of the ailment. But the worst shock that he got despite being covered under the corporate insurance was a huge medical bill, that he had to pay from his pocket.

There are several others like Vishal who have to pay all the bills on their own because they do not have individual policies for their health. The regular policies for health insurance take care only of the hospital bills. A person with critical illness, is not fit to work and has to take a break for some time, how should he provide for the school fees, EMI’s of Loans, expenditure of the house? This is where an insurance policy for critical illness comes into play.

Why a critical illness insurance policy?

This policy is very different from general health policies, it reimburses a fixed sum, upon diagnosis, which can be used for all the other expenses other than the hospital bills. Once the payment is made the policy lapses.

What all comes under the cover of the policy?

While in case of a best whole life insurance dual benefit of protection of life and investment are assured to the policyholder. Different policies have different illnesses covered under them.

According to Stampede Insurance, the most common critical ailments that most of the policies cover are as follows:

• Kidney failure
• Stroke
• Heart attack (myocardial infarction)
• Transplantation of major organs
• Cancer
• Brain tumour
  
• Alzheimer’s disease
  
• End stage of the liver disease
• Primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
• Paralysis
• Graft surgery for multiple sclerosis
• Graft surgery – aorta

 Let’s talk about the benefits of the policy

• It is a source of replacement of income. When the person is physically affected with critical ailments; his finances are badly affected. This insurance pays a one-time amount for taking care of the household and medical expenses.
• Tax benefits. Pay-out received under critical illness is free of the taxes that come under the Income Tax Act.
• Peace of mind. The policy provides peace of mind to concentrate on the medical treatment and not worrying about the day-to-day expenditure at home.
• Foreign country treatments are covered. Under this insurance cover of Critical Ailments, a fixed lump sum is paid upon diagnosis of the disease, regardless of the treatment taking place abroad or in India. This insurance cover can help you if you have to go abroad for further treatment.

How does insurance for critical insurance cover work?

The cover has a simple rule— the insurer would be paying a fixed amount to the person covered under the policy, as soon as he is diagnosed with the illness. The insured person can use this amount to pay expenses related to hospitalisation, EMI’s, household, school fees of children, etc.

How should you choose a plan wisely?

Always choose your plan by comparing two to three other plans.

• Ailments covered. Have a clear understanding of the illnesses covered, along with their proper descriptions and definitions.
• Eliminations. Do a brief check, on what has not been covered in the policy.
• Procedure for claim. Please be very clear about the survival period, and the time required for the proceedings of claim.
• Renewal assistance. Be aware of the discounts on claim-free regenerations.
• Coverage. Cross-check all the options available for sum insured.

What should be the amount that one should take?

The amount that one takes should be decided as per the person’s income, age, and lifestyle. No standard rule can be set for this. It is a one-time lump sum amount that is paid to the insured upon diagnosis, so definitely the people who have higher income should go for a higher amount.

You and your family must be covered under a critical illness plan

These days most of the life-threatening diseases are caused by our lifestyle. So, it is high time we purchase the best insurance plan for critical illness from Care Health Insurance and have protection from critical ailments in their insurance portfolio.

Ellen Diamond did her degree in psychology at the University of Edinburgh. She is interested in mental health and well-being.