You would be surprised to know that one in 4 deaths in India are due to cardiovascular diseases. What’s devastating is that four people under the age of 50 die due to heart attack every two minutes. On the other hand, by the time day gets over, approximately 1300 people are diagnosed with cancer. It has sadly become the reality of life. Nowadays, due to lifestyle choices, pollution, environmental changes, adulteration in food and beverages etc., even the youths are suffering from life-threatening diseases. Therefore, opting for a critical illness insurance policy is the call of an hour.
Because there are multiple insurance policies, some might cover the critical illness factors, and some may not. This post discusses the importance of critical illness medical insurance and why it should be availed by every individual. But before knowing in detail about critical illness insurance, it’s crucial to understand a regular health insurance policy.
Regular Individual Health Insurance Policy
The primary or regular health insurance provides cover for injuries and mostly non-threatening diseases, which are mentioned in the policy document. Also, the payout or the reimbursement is done based on the expenses incurred.
The positive aspect is that the policy will continue to offer coverage even post-claim period till the time of renewal.
Critical Illness Policy
As the name suggests, a critical illness policy covers critical illness only. It covers a lump sum on the diagnosis of a critical illness, like cancer, heart diseases, etc., providing financial aid to the policyholder.
It is important to read the terms and conditions of the critical illness policy before signing the contract. This is because every health insurance company has a definition for critical illness. That is, some may not consider liver disease as a critical illness. The purpose of getting a critical illness medical insurance is that your finances remain stable in the events you experience any life-threatening disease.
Benefits of critical illness policy
- It offers peace of mind
One of the most crucial benefits which can be attained is peace of mind. The reason behind this is one’s concentration on medical treatment. He/she need not worry about arranging funds for household and medical expenses.
- It acts as an income replacement
Critical ailments can take a toll on the family’s finances and affect the person physically and mentally. At this point, critical illness insurance has a significant role to play. It pays out a lump sum amount, which is used to cover household and medical expenses.
- It covers treatment taking place in a foreign country.
A normal insurance plan does not cover international or foreign treatment. However, critical illness insurance does it. It highlights that the policy supports an individual in case of further medical treatment.
- It offers tax benefits
One of the highest yielding benefits of critical illness insurance relates to the tax benefits, which can be availed under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.
- No end-usage restriction:
Critical insurance policy will enable you to utilize the claim-money on whichever way you want. You can use the term to seek top-notch treatment from a reputed healthcare center. Otherwise, you can meet all the other requirements. The insurance provider will not enforce over the sum, which has been insured.
Why are critical illness policies so important?
The consistent rise in healthcare costs has given birth to a vital amount of stress. Reports have provided evidence that the nation’s 2018 to 2019 healthcare inflation was 7.4%. This is much higher than India’s overall inflation rate, which is around 3.4%. The regular insurance plans will not be able to provide adequate protection against the expenses for critical illnesses. That is why opting for critical illness policies is a much better solution. The policy is designed to provide you additional expenses that will cover the cost of your critical illness.
You don’t have to worry about receiving quality and affordable healthcare services within the country when you have a critical illness policy. When you avail quality healthcare insurance policies, it will only somewhat protect your finances from accidents that take place through such illnesses. Such types of plans will compensate all the treatment costs, such as medical costs, hospitalization charges, and post and pre-hospitalization costs. If you are thinking you are safe when you purchase a health insurance plan, you are wrong.
It’s because standard health insurance will protect your finances only on specific procedures and diseases. For instance, if you are diagnosed with heart disease, you will require a heart transplant. This is something that a normal health insurance policy will not be able to cover. That is why you will need a critical illness policy. It will help in safeguarding you financially through such treatments. Having a critical illness plan beside you will eliminate the need for any other health insurance plan to cover all the expensive treatments.
Final words
Presently, it’s our lifestyle that causes life-threatening ailments. Therefore, be aware of buying health insurance and, most notably, a critical illness insurance plan. It will help you to stay protected against numerous critical ailments.
