5 Things to Look for in a Critical Illness Insurance Plan

Critical illness insurance is a type of insurance policy that provides financial aid when the policyholder gets diagnosed with a critical illness. It is helpful for those at risk of developing critical illnesses as a lot of the expenses for the treatment may not be covered by regular health insurance. What sets critical illness insurance apart from normal health insurance is that the former provides a lump-sum pay-out to the policyholder on the diagnosis of the critical illness. This amount may be used by the policyholder for any purposes they deem fit. 

 

If you are planning on buying critical illness insurance either as a cover or as a standalone policy, then there are certain things you should look for in a policy. In this article, we look at 5 such things. 

Critical Illness Insurance 

 1. Coverage offered

 

A good critical illness insurance plan will cover a variety of critical illnesses, surgical procedures, and medical issues. Cancer, heart attacks, paralysis, stroke, end-stage lung or liver failure, major organ transplant, coma, multiple sclerosis, brain tumour, and so on should ideally be covered. It is to be remembered that the illnesses may be covered under certain conditions only. Cancer and coma may be covered as long as they are of specified severity. Organ transplant coverage may be for specified organs only such as the heart, liver, pancreas, kidney, and lungs only depending on the health insurance company. 

 

2. A high sum insured

 

When you are hit with a critical illness, the treatment expenses could go very high. The sum insured of your critical illness insurance plan should cover all such expenses without affecting your hard-earned savings. A good critical illness insurance plan would ideally have a sum insured of up to Rs 1 crore. Remember that you can use this sum insured for whatever purposes you wish to. So, this amount may also help you pay for the flights if you want to get your treatment done abroad. 

 

3. Easy claim processing 

Raising a claim during diagnosis of a critical illness should come at the least amount of effort to you. Make sure that the health insurance company you are choosing has a high claim settlement ratio as well as an easy and online claim settlement process. You may even go for some insurers who provide app-based claim settlement. This will ensure that you get the money at the right time when you require it. 

 

4. A short waiting period

 

Waiting period refers to the duration between the purchasing of the policy and the time when the policy becomes active. Once your waiting period ends, you can raise a claim on your insurance and get the due compensation. Choosing a critical illness insurance policy that has a short waiting period is beneficial as you may never know when some critical illness might hit you. Ideally, a health insurance company should have a waiting period of 30 days.

5. Added benefits

 

A dedicated health insurance company should ideally provide several benefits along with coverage such as regular health check-up, children’s education benefit, and so on. Opting for a critical illness insurance plan that offers these advantages will help you immensely in the long run. 

 

Do bear in mind that the features of various critical illness insurance plans differ as per the health insurance company. You are advised to read the policy wordings carefully before signing.  

 

 

 

Read more: Why Critical Illness Insurance Is A Must!