an insurance policy where the insurer is contracted to simply make a large sum single payment in cash if the insured person is diagnosed with one of the illnesses mentioned on a predetermined list. In UAE the most commonly diagnosed critical illnesses for people less than 65 years are cancer, heart attack and stroke. Critical illness insurance is often overlooked because people consider it to be unnecessary or too expensive. But in reality, this policy is relatively cheap and the policyholder will receive an outsized payout during the recovery process. This policy helps them in taking extra time off from work and also to seek a better treatment facility.
Critical Illness Insurance
Why is Critical Illness Insurance important?
In this fast-paced world, with unhealthy lifestyles people are more prone to critical illness. If you are the only earning member of the family, your family solely relies on you for their financial support and the wise decision you can make is to protect yourself and your family financially.
Critical illness insurance pays for those expenses that are not paid for by medical insurance policies. The insured will receive a lump sum that can act as a replacement of your income and can be used as a financial parachute to prevent a hard landing for you, in case of your inability to work for an extended period. You can buy critical illness insurance on your own or your business can pay for it. You can also add it to your current life insurance plan.
Critical illness insurance policy works by paying a lump-sum benefit amount following the diagnosis of a covered illness condition.
The benefits from the critical illness insurance policy can be used to cover the medical expenses, living expenses, income replacement etc. In general, this policy gives you the freedom to solely focus on the recovery instead of worrying about the expenses and the burden of it.
Critical illness insurance covers a wide range of most commonly heard serious illnesses and conditions. Minor ailments don’t trigger payment, but a diagnosis of one of the following conditions will be covered in the policy.
Heart Attack, Coronary Artery Bypass, Surgery, Angioplasty, Stroke, Kidney Failure, Major Organ Transplant, Advanced Alzheimer’s disease, Invasive or Non-Invasive ,Cancer, Paralysis, Coma, Multiple Sclerosis, Aplastic Anemia, Bacterial Meningitis, Bone Marrow Transplant.
Some policies also cover health ailments like Advanced ALS, Advanced Parkinson’s disease, Loss of Sight, Loss of Hearing, Severe Burns, Benign Brain Tumor
Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance
Pay for daily living expenses such as rent, bills, travel,etc
Pay for treatments not covered by traditional health insurance
No dent in your regular savings & investments
Safeguard your family
Exceptions
Generally, the critical illness insurance policy doesn’t provide insurance coverage for the following health ailments,
- The critical illness developed due to tobacco smoking, alcohol, drug intake, internal or external congenital disorder etc.
- Pregnancy or childbirth-related critical condition, infertility treatment to assist reproduction etc.
- Illness caused due to war, terrorism, any war operations etc.
- Hormone replacement treatment
Bottomline
A critical illness insurance policy is different from a regular health insurance policy. It provides different kinds of cover for serious health issues listed as critical illnesses and those that are not sufficiently covered in regular health insurance plans. The benefits of the claim are directly paid to the insured and can be utilized as per the wishes of the person. This is not a replacement for medical insurance, but acts more like a compliment and financial cover in case a person suffers from a serious health condition.