What is Critical Illness Insurance?
Critical illness insurance is insurance that pays lump sum cash payment when the insured is diagnosed with a covered critical illness.
Those covered critical illnesses are illnesses such as Cancer Heart attack and Stroke. Those are the basis of coverage’s for 90% of critical illness insurance Policies today. Certain carriers cover more conditions such as paralysis, major burns like 3rd degree burns over an area of the body, which is not an illness nor is paralysis, never-the-less critical though.
How are critical illness insurance quotes derived?
Most critical illness insurance policies for a basic quote are based on typically 3-4 factors
Age or age banded such as age 40-45
Tobacco-User or non-self explanatory
Amount of coverage– basic coverage is $10,000-$20,000 and will help and will help if you have no other insurance or if you are looking to offset the cost of a high deductible. Try doing something that is within your budget since premiums do not usually go up on Critical illness Insurance policies for years. If you didn’t have any insurance and wanted a lump sum of money to handle your illness, and your age 40 and non-tobacco user in Florida, rates can run as little as $20 a month for $20,000 of coverage! Pretty inexpensive if your coverage is $60 a month for $60,000 of coverage and didn’t even have insurance the hospital might simply say well your treatments may be as high as $80,000 but we’ll take $50-60k in cash. The point is make sure your covered and make sure you are covered outside of the policy you have with major medical NOT a rider under the same insurance plan and company. Also separate the two plans as with any supplemental health insurance such as accident insurance, cancer insurance, Medicare supplemental plans, long-term-care insurance, or…Critical illness insurance. Speak to an expert to get the lowest rates at the insurance resource center by filling and info form or via phone for immediate assistance. Also see, how to lower health insurance premiums? (below)
To qualify you need only to pass a few questions or typically “knock out questions” in which case if you get declined you would then be eligible for guaranteed issue coverage which usually limits the coverage amount to $10,000. There may be a $25,000 but again it is limited and guaranteed issue policies which are pretty new as a standalone for 2010 and beyond should only be taken if you CAN NOT QUALIFY for a traditional simplified underwriting.
What are not qualified conditions?
Typically if you have already had a critical illness such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke, or if you had any problems with your heart. Then you can only get a guaranteed issue critical illness insurance policy. We do not recommend these types of policies as they can be expensive and not enough history to be fairly graded by us.
Is there a Probationary period?
Typically, it is only about 30 days then everything is covered. However if you have a, or are considering getting a guaranteed issue critical illness the coverage period might not begin for a year. Also be prepared to pay a lot more but it is still worth it over the long haul and is a nice security to have, otherwise, why would a company come out with guaranteed issue? Be leery of guaranteed issue or guarantee acceptance.
The survival period is not typical but payouts of the critical illness plans from their critical policies also vary. Top plans usually from about two weeks to a month of after being diagnosed from your doctor. Serious heart attacks, invasive cancers, and strokes are common critical illnesses that are covered by the critical illness insurance policy.
Cancer insurance versus (vs) Critical illness Insurance?
Well one gives you coverage for simply cancer and one for many more. The difference being that cancer insurance covers in 2 different types of policies. One is the AFLAC type of policy which covers a Per Diem type and covers per treatment like $250 a day for chemo and $50 for transportation and so forth. The other Cancer insurance pays like a critical illness insurance policy would pay which is a lump sum. The smallest amount is $5,000 which covers nothing if you think about it other than perhaps to satisfy your deductible. Not really worth it. Most start at $10,000 of coverage and can go up from there but usually is limited such as $50,000 like Humana Cash Cancer plan. Again, contact a critical illness insurance agent or specialist. eCancerInsurance.com for example.
Critical illness insurance covers obviously a lot more but including cancer. It is obviously a better choice if a serious cancer was to strike then you might want to have a lump sum upfront to offset the cost that you will incur. Here’s why;
1. It covers more than just cancer
2 If diagnosed with cancer or something of the like then you may find yourself out of work and then a loss of income is going to be a problem.
3. If out of work for 3-6 months how much coverage would you need to stay afloat and still pay your hospital bills? What if had not savings?
4. Lump sum critical illness insurance puts money in your hand shortly after getting diagnosed which is WHEN YOU’LL NEED IT!
5. If had no health insurance, well that is a real problem. Either you weren’t approved due to medical conditions in which case Critical illness insurance differs since it is typically not fully underwritten and then therefore more lenient. Or, you can’t afford health insurance premiums in which case You can’t afford not to get a critical illness policy, why…it is basically the least expensive and yet most important policies to have.
While you may pay $400 for health insurance as an example CI insurance may be 10% of that.
How to lower your health insurance premiums?
Prices are sky rocketing for private insurers and that means the premiums that you pay may go up dramatically. Most often the immediate question is “If I raise my deductible, how much would my premium be reduced?” In that case it may be as much as a couple hundred a month, but, then you’re stuck with a high deductible like $10,000 if something happen. How can I pay that? You may ask. Well, if you save $150 a month and then get accident insurance up to $10,000 it typically costs $40 a month and often that is unlimited and covers the whole family. In that light you won’t need to satisfy your $1k deductible, or come out of pocket and be concerned about basically being self insured. But what if not an accident and was a critical illness? Yes you would have to satisfy the large deductible, but, you could if you had as little as a $10,000 critical illness insurance coverage for about $20!
So recap- $40 accident + $20-$40 Critical illness insurance = $60-$80, but you saved $150 in the above example, and now you have more coverage then you did before for less. Oh, and one more thing some Critical illness policies double as a term life policy which is now even more of a bonus and the premiums wouldn’t raise for the entire term. Armed with this information, and again, still an example and not to state that all are fitting the above example, you could really do better by getting the correct supplements.
When did critical illness insurance start? Why I’ve never heard of it?
It was started about 30 years ago by Doctor Marius Bernard who was accredited with the first successful heart transfer along with his brother Christian. It stared in South Africa and has really found the niche in places that have a form of universal type health care. The U.K. is very far ahead. You would be hard pressed to have anyone not know what a critical illness insurance policy is. In fact over there they call it critical illness cover. The same is said for places like India Australia New Zealand and huge in Canada as well.Chances are you’ve not heard of dread disease insurance either but since the help of the Heath Care Reform the United States will fall right tin line with the rest of the world who not only knows about it but is more popular than life insurance in places like U.K. When Japan began the introduction about half a million were sold in under a year or just shy of the U.S. has prior to the Reform.
TIP: If looking for insurance online Google critical illness policies but make sure that the results are NOT a .co.uk extension or .ca but rather the ones you know like .com .net .org or .us such as CriticalillnessPolicies.com – the other extensions are the United Kingdom and .ca is Canada these are the two big countries that may appear. Since they already have Health care for every person in the country in place, the only other need is a form of critical illness insurance. Some are coupled with disability insurance and may even include accident insurance. Typically though Critical illness Insurance is gotten over there for the fear of what they do not have covered, which is the same here in the U.S. in your very state. If you have questions contact the number provided in this information guide.
What could the payout of the CI insurance be used for or to cover?
Things associated with the illness of course but since it is paid out directly to the insured the money can therefore be used for anything the insured wants without any stipulations or penalties.
Mortgage payments or rent
Things health insurance may not pay for – Deductibles or co-insurance, clinical trials,/ experimental treatments which often work but are costly, transportation costs, going to a specialized clinic such as cancer or heart specialized units, maintaining bills and food on the table or replacement of income while being out of work for 3-6-12 months recuperating, or perhaps just a trip around the world. Perhaps Home health care, or if your spouse is going to be by your side but can’t afford to stay out of work this would help replace the income and have a spouse by your side rather than just nearby after 9-5. Especially needed if you are a business owner so that your business can stay in business while you’re out of commission. If you have employees it can be a list billing if you are paying for the group or simply offer to employees because it is so inexpensive and deducted from them at about $30 a month perhaps including accident insurance or disability insurance. Or just keeping your assets which this is why it is also an asset protection, or, mortgage protection insurance.
Main cause of Bankruptcies-Since most bankruptcies were due to a severe medical illness such as a critical illness like cancer, or heart, (nearly 3,000,000 cases a year) if a critical illness insurance policy was in place perhaps this just would not have occurred. Average bankruptcy under $15000!
Want more information? Contact 1-561 210 5822 to speak to the Resource Center for assistance.