With the advancement of technology lifestyle of people has changed to a greater extent. There is no doubt that these technologies have made lifestyle easier, but at the same time, it is also deteriorating the health of many. Just as the development of new diseases has become common, similarly suffering from various critical illnesses is also common. Treatment of these critical illnesses is so expensive that it can burn out a maximum portion of your saving or even your entire saving. So it is essential that you should be prepared for such unforeseen situations. Critical illness policy can help you to stay prepared for such emergency medical conditions as it covers the expensive treatments of critical illnesses.
What is critical illness insurance?
It is a health cover policy that provides coverage to the buyer of the policy for diseases that are considered to be critical diseases like heart stroke, renal failure, cancerous conditions, come, etc. The insured person can use this amount to pay all the bills of treatment for life-threatening diseases. You can enjoy the benefit of critical illness policy from many medical insurance companies. The medical insurance companies offer you critical illness insurance as a rider benefit over your primary health insurance policy. For this benefit, you need to pay an extra premium over your primary health insurance policy.
Important features of critical illness insurance
Following are the key features of critical illness insurance that will help you to understand the significance of this policy:
- Claiming process is easy: The claims of the insured person are easily processed with the help of the diagnostic report. The settlements of the claims are a hassle-free process providing you the financial support in time of your urgent need.
- Complete coverage for critical illnesses: A critical illness plan provides comprehensive coverage for critical illnesses like renal disorders, cardiac conditions, tumors, cancerous conditions, etc. It offers coverage for almost 36 major critical diseases.
- Waiting period: Critical illness plans usually provide coverage for the illness after the completion of the waiting period.
- Cashless claim benefit: These plans offer you the service of cashless claim if you get treated in their network hospitals.
- Total payment: The expenses of the treatment are covered by the insurance companies as the total payment for the ailments that are specified in the critical illness insurance plan.
- Permanent and complete disability: It also offers an additional benefit of coverage for any permanent and complete disability under certain modifications of the critical illness insurance policy.
- Revenue loss: The portion of the total payment made by the insurer can be utilized to restore the lost income.
Benefits of critical illness insurance:
Critical illness insurance plans provide some benefits when compared to other health insurance plans. Here some of them will be discussed; they are as follows:
- Multiple life-threatening diseases are covered: Critical health insurance majorly covers critical illnesses, with almost around 36 such diseases. So it is necessary that you read the entire terms and conditions mentioned in the plan in order to be aware of the type and number of diseases covered by the plan.
- Tax benefit: The premium that is paid by the insured person is eligible for tax exemption. So basically, the insured person gets the opportunity to claim for tax exemption on the amount that is being paid as a premium for the critical health insurance It is under section 80D of the Income Tax Act that the insured gets the tax benefit. The upper limit for the tax exemption is Rs. 15,000, and for senior citizens, it is Rs. 20,000 under the same section of the income tax act.
- Used for income replacement: Suppose the primary earning person of the family is suddenly diagnosed with a life-threatening ailment, and the health condition doesn’t support the person to continue earning. This situation can be like a nightmare for the family members due to the termination of their primary income source, and so they may have to face a financial crunch. In this time of need, a critical illness insurance plan can be helpful. If the person is the policyholder, then it can be easy to get treated as the entire expense of the treatment is covered by the claimed amount, and so the insured person will not be required to burn out the savings.
- Financial assistance during a severe medical condition: It is advisable that whenever you buy a critical illness plan in India, you always opt for a higher insured amount because if in the future you suffer from any severe disease, then you will get complete financial assistance during your severe medical condition. So basically, when you suffer from any of the severe diseases specified in the policy, then you get coverage for the treatment of critical ailments.
- Cost-effective premiums: The premiums of the best critical illness insurance plans are comparatively cheaper and affordable. So it is highly recommended that if anyone has any pre-existing ailment or is suffering from any critical condition, then they must upgrade their standard health insurance policy by adding critical illness insurance plans with it.
Everyone aspires to have an easy and joyous life without any problems; however, problems and difficulties are part and parcel of life. One of the biggest difficulties that anyone can face in life is being diagnosed with any critical illness, as it affects not only your health but even your finances and may put you in a financial crisis. Family can even be affected emotionally. Regular health insurance is no doubt helpful at any time. But adding critical illness insurance to it can better help in managing the finances during the event of severe ailments.
Thus, it can be said that critical illness policy works like a support system in times of medical need. Buying the policy will anytime be the best decision for the family and the financial management. However, selecting the best critical illness insurance provider is also an important task to work. Before you select any company, you should do some good research and select the right one for you.
