Buy Critical Illness Insurance Plans – December 2022
You might debate that you don’t need any additional coverage like critical illness insurance as you are covered in a comprehensive health plan and also under group medical policy offered by your employer. Well, yes, but any critical illness calls for specialized treatment & care and as your comprehensive health insurance plan has limitations on hospitalization, doctors’ fees, etc. it will not cover the entire medical expense towards treatment.
Buy Critical Illness Insurance Plans
In simpler terms, there is a limit on certain expenses like prosthetic, intensive care or even medicines and your spending on such ailments is always more than what your health insurer will pay. In such cases, you’ll have no option but you’ll end up paying from your own pocket.
Examples of Critical Illnesses:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Major Organ Transplantations
- Kidney failure
- Paralysis
Best Critical Illness Insurance Plans by Insurer
| WHAT IS COVERED? | ENTRY AGE | SUM INSURED |
|---|---|---|
| Care Super Mediclaim Critical Illness Plan | ||
| Aditya Birla Activ Secure – Critical Illness Plan | ||
| National Critical Illness Plan | ||
| SBI Critical Illness Plan | ||
| Bajaj Women Specific Critical Illness Plan |
Why Buy Critical Illness Insurance?
Gives you cash: It gives you a lump sum cash on getting a critical illness listed in your plan. These diseases can be cancer, stroke, heart attack and many other diseases.
Pays for loss of income: You can use the lump sum as security money in case of loss of income from business or job due to critical illness.
Other medical expenses: You can use this cash to pay for regular medical expenses that are not covered by your regular health insurance plans.
Peace of mind: Critical illness insurance protects you against any medical emergencies related to various critical illnesses. So, it keeps you free from worries.
Features and benefits of critical illness insurance
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So Critical Illness Insurance provides the following features:
Critical Illness Coverage: Critical Illness Insurance policy provides coverage for 36 major critical illnesses including kidney diseases, heart complications, tumors and cancer etc. Since each insurer’s list of critical illnesses is unique, it’s important to review your policy to understand which illnesses are covered. covered and how many of them are included.
Easy claim processing: Claims can be made and processed easily after diagnosis. To ensure that you choose the right critical illness health insurance, make your decision after evaluating the claim-settlement ratio of the insurance provider.
Lump-sum payment option: There are critical illness plans that allow you to opt for a lump-sum insurance, which offers full coverage in the event of a life-threatening illness or expensive treatment. At the time of claim, the insurer issues a one-time lump sum payment.
Hassle-free experience: With Coverfox you get all your policy needs met in minutes. There is almost zero paperwork. And in the digitized world, you can experience a quick and easy process whether you want to buy a critical illness policy or simply renew a policy.
Cashless facility: The patient gets faster treatment, which is one of the most significant benefits of critical illness coverage. In other words, the insured can get treatment at any network hospital without paying any cash. By getting treatment under a network hospital, you can avoid paying any emergency cash.
Waiting Period: Generally, policies have a waiting period of 48 to 90 days. This waiting period may vary according to different insurance companies. It is advisable to check the policy details and see if it meets your needs.
Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance
Protection for you: Provides lifetime coverage for your loved ones.
Critical Illness Benefit: Ensures payment of Critical Illness Benefit in case of diagnosed illness (out of 36 major critical illnesses).
Tax Benefit: Under section 80C and 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961 Rs. 15000 (Rs. 20000 in case of senior citizen) tax exemption.
Accidental Death Benefit: In case of sudden death due to accident, the sum assured is paid to the nominee.
100% Benefit Payout: You get 100% sum assured as payout if you are diagnosed with terminal illness.
Types of Critical Illness Health Insurance Covers
Rider: A critical illness rider is like an add-on to your basic health insurance policy. Under a critical insurance rider, you are paid a lump-sum amount on the diagnosis of such critical illness specified in the policy. The rider comes with an additional payment on the insurance premium. Though, today, several insurance companies are developing new critical illness riders that cover both lifestyle and old diseases, it is always wise to confirm the extent of coverage prior to adding a rider.
Health Insurance Covers
Standalone Policy: A standalone critical illness cover is much better as compared to a rider. This is because it provides a comprehensive coverage and also offers a much larger coverage as compared to a rider. If the mediclaim or health insurance policy provides coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs, the critical illness rider will provide coverage of only Rs. 2 lakhs. If you want comprehensive insurance coverage, insurance experts recommend purchasing a stand-alone policy.
Diseases Covered in Critical Health Insurance
Here is the list of the diseases covered under critical illness health insurance. However, the inclusion may vary depending on the insurance provider.
- Cancer
- Heart attack
- Kidney failure
- Multiple sclerosis
- Stroke
- Coma
- Coronary artery bypass surgery
- Major organ transplant
- Paralysis
- Bone marrow
- Benign brain tumor
- Major burns
- Brain surgery
- Blindness
- Deafness
- Parkinson’s disease
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Open chest CABG
- Goodpasture’s syndrome
Benefits of Buying Top Critical Illness Insurance
The key benefits are:
How to Claim Critical Illness Cover?
Excluded under Critical Illness Insurance Scheme
However, not all types of illnesses are covered in a critical illness insurance policy. Aspects not covered under the policy are mentioned below:
A critical illness was diagnosed during the waiting period
Death occurs within 30 days of diagnosis
Serious illness due to smoking, tobacco, alcohol or drug consumption
An illness arising from an internal or external congenital disorder
Any complicated condition related to childbirth or pregnancy
HIV/AIDS
Critical illness resulting from war, terrorism, civil war or military operations
Dental care or cosmetic surgery
Treatment for infertility
Hormone replacement therapy
Treatment done abroad, ie, outside India
Why should you buy critical illness cover?
Critical illness cover has been required for a long time. But, with the worldwide havoc caused by Covid-19, an important insurance cover has become non-negotiable. A critical illness insurance policy provides coverage against life-threatening diseases.
Treatment of such serious illnesses may require multiple hospitalizations over a long period of time. Apart from hospitalization expenses, there are additional expenses like doctor’s fees, medical bills and more. You can cover these large expenses with the lump sum payment provided by your critical illness cover.
Not opting for critical illness cover can leave a big hole in your pocket where you end up spending a large chunk of your hard-earned and saved money on treatment expenses. And the next thing you see is your savings disappearing in no time.
How does critical illness insurance work?
List of Illnesses: There is a list of critical illnesses covered in your policy. You can claim only if you get one of these critical illnesses from your policy list.
Survival Period: The minimum period you have to survive after developing a listed critical illness. It can be anywhere between 14 to 30 days.
No bill required: The insurer pays you a fixed pre-determined amount on the occurrence of a listed critical illness.
No Reimbursement: This fixed cash does not reimburse your medical expenses. You are paid a one-time amount after submitting medical papers that prove you have a listed critical illness.
Loss of income: You can use this fixed cash to cover your loss of income or to pay medical expenses that are not covered by your regular health plan.
Difference Between Health Insurance & Critical Illness Insurance?
| FACTORS | CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE | HEALTH INSURANCE |
|---|---|---|
| What it means | Covers life-threatening ailments like heart attack, stroke, paralysis, tumour etc. | Covers for hospitalization expenses related to seasonal illnesses, accidents & pre-existing diseases. |
| Benefit | Hospitalization is not needed to get policy benefits. Simple submission of medical papers that proves that the patient has been diagnosed with a listed critical illness is sufficient to get the one-time payment. | You can submit hospital bills and get reimbursement. You can get cashless treatment at network hospitals as well. |
| Cover | Covers nearly 36 main critical illnesses. | Covers major pre & post hospitalization expenses along with the hospital treatment. |
| Waiting Period | Waiting period depending on the criticality of the illness. | Minimum waiting period of 30 days. |
How to Save Tax On Critical Illness Insurance?
- Double Benefit: A critical illness insurance offers tax benefits upto 1 lakh under Section 80D of IT Act of 1961.
- Tax deduction on premium: Get a tax deduction of up to 25,000/- per budgetary year on premium paid
- Deduction on annual health check-ups: Expenses due to annual health check-ups are entitled for tax benefits. The tax exemption limit here is 5,000/-.
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