Critical illness health insurance protects you against the risk of exceeding the coverage of your health insurance plan. Health insurance covers the cost of treatment up to a specific limit. If you or your family member suffers a serious or catastrophic injury or illness, your health insurance plan may not cover the full cost. This insurance can save you from financial ruin, covering the cost of medical care for several health conditions that can exceed coverage from ACA health insurance, including:
- Strokes
- Heart attacks
- Cancer treatments
- Coronary bypass surgeries
- Organ transplant surgeries
A Unique Type of Coverage: Critical Illness Health Insurance
The benefits of critical illness health insurance include paying for costs that are not covered by traditional health insurance. It can pay for other illness-related costs, such as childcare, transportation, or other financial needs. The insurance typically pays out a lump sum, based the specific policy.
How Does Critical Illness Insurance Work?
Critical illness insurance covers expenses resulting from specific diseases and conditions outlined in the policy. When the policyholder is diagnosed with one of these conditions, a lump sum payment is paid out directly to the insured. Critical illness policies typically cover these conditions, although conditions covered will vary by policy:
- Heart attack
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Organ transplant
- Heart transplant
- Kidney failure
- Coronary bypass surgery
- Paralysis
What is Covered by Critical Illness Health Insurance?
Each critical illness health insurance policy provides specific coverage. It is necessary to fully understand the fine print when purchasing this type of insurance, as only specifically named illnesses are covered. If you have a high-deductible health insurance plan, this type of insurance can pay for a range of out-of-pocket costs, including:
- Medical services that are not covered by your health insurance plan.
- Treatments your health insurance doesn’t cover.Â
- The costs associated with daily living while recovering from an illness.
- The costs associated with refitting the home environment, such as wheelchair access, elevator, or another refit.
Types of Critical Illness Insurance
There are three basic forms of critical illness insurance available:
- Simplified Issue Individual: A simplified issue critical illness insurance policy for individuals is available in amounts up to $50,000. The underwriting requirements are not as stringent as for a critical care policy for a larger amount and only basic health questions are asked. These plans are affordable to most families and can be purchased from your own independent insurance agent.
- Fully Underwritten Individual: You can purchase a fully underwritten critical illness insurance policy for amounts up to $500,000. For this higher amount of protection, you can expect to be asked detailed medical history from the insurance company. You may also be able to purchase this type of critical illness insurance through your employer.
- Policy Rider: Some life insurance policies offer critical illness coverage through an endorsement to the policy (policy rider).
Choosing the Right Critical Illness Health Insurance Plan
Every critical illness health insurance plan has specific coverage, and it is important that you choose the plan that best suits your budget, and you fully understand what is covered – and what isn’t. Our local agent can advise you about the policy that makes the most sense for your situation.
Critical illness insurance provides protection to ease the blow of dealing with a critical illness and provides money for dealing with mounting medical expenses when it is needed most. These policies cover expenses resulting from specific diseases and conditions outlined in the policy. For more than 20 years, Jon Nolan Insurance has been providing the most trustworthy critical illness supplement insurance services to customers in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Frisco, and throughout our DFW service area.
