When a chronic/critical illness strikes unexpectedly, it becomes almost impossible to pay your bills. Critical illness insurance, also called Critical Care Insurance, does not bear your medical bills. Rather, it provides you money to help pay expenses related to a qualifying serious illness. However, you can choose to spend the money on whatever you want.
A typical health insurance plan might cover some health care costs, but the patient often faces other challenges like paying day-to-day expenses while being unable to work. This is when a Critical Illness Insurance plan comes into action. You can use the cash benefits in whatever way you find appropriate, such as for mortgage or rent bills, groceries, prescriptions, treatment by a specialist, out-of-pocket medical costs and transportation.
WHAT IS COVERED?
Critical illness insurance plans can widely differ. Some may cover a single/specific diagnosis, while others may provide coverage for a wide range of possible diagnoses, such as the following:
- Blindness
- Cancer
- Coma
- Coronary artery bypass graft
- Deafness
- End-stage renal failure
- Heart attack
- Loss of hearing
- Loss of speech
- Loss of vision
- Major organ transplant
- Paralysis
- Severe Burns
- Stroke
Critical illness insurance plans allow you to choose the level of coverage that you would like to receive, e.g. between $10k and $100k. The extent of payout for critical conditions depends on the plan you choose.