Worth of coverage

Is critical illness insurance worth it?
If you get struck by a critical illness the medical costs associated with it plus the loss of income could bankrupt many people. Even if you have a major health plan you still may not be covered or you could reach your maximum benefit amount. One way to make sure you can cover the treatment costs is to purchase critical illness insurance.
Some of the major conditions most policies cover include strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, organ transplants, paraplegia, Alzheimer’s disease, deafness, blindness, comas, Multiple sclerosis, Angioplasty, aortic surgery, severe burns, heart valve surgery, and certain cancers.
If you’re struck by a critical illness that’s covered you will receive benefits even if you’re not disabled and you don’t have to be employed. The benefit is typically a lump sum payment and you can spend it how you choose. The limits for critical illness insurance is usually between $10,000 and $1 million. Typically people dont need more than necessary such as a million dollars may be a bit much if you have health insurance. This is meant to cover what health insurance does not but if you have no coverage at all now, you definitely need to get more CI insurance than if you had health insurance.
There are a few ways to buy the insurance, including individual policies, workplace benefits, and as supplemental insurance to other types of policies. Some insurers will categorize critical illness coverage and you’re able to apply for claims in several categories. For instance the categories could be related to cancer, heart problems, and organ transplants, etc. You can usually purchase coverage for one or more categories.
You need to check out the elimination or commonly the Survival period of the policy, as it’s the length of time you need to wait after being diagnosed with an illness before receiving payment. Be aware if you die while in the waiting period many companies won’t pay the benefit unless you have a special rider in the policy or has a life insurance payout such as Colorado Bankers Life insurance company.
It’s important to fully understand the limitations and exclusions for all policies before buying one. Most of them last for a minimum of about two years and the maximum is generally up to 20 or 25 years. However, if you’re over 65 years old you might find it hard getting coverage and if you’re about 60, the costs could be steep. Factors used to calculate the costs of the insurance are usually your height, age, weight, family health history, smoking habits, and current medical conditions.
In general, younger people get cheaper rates and group plans are less expensive. Insurance providers usually cancel policies when premiums are missed, when the maximum benefit is reached and when you die or cancel the policy.
A good critical illness policy will pay benefits when you’re diagnosed with an illness, pay transportation benefits to cover costs for getting to and from treatment, and cover routine diagnostic tests.
As with all insurance, critical illness coverage is a risk you either decide to take or not. You may end up regretting not having a policy, but it’s unlikely that you’ll ever regret having one.