The need of medical expense can come at any time in life. However in case of critical illness the expenses can easily surpass a routine health cover. Here is where the role of critical illness insurance comes out. Its benefit is that it pays you a lump sum in order to aid in bodily life outside the hospital, such as the considerations of a home. You can maximise at this addition; that is, you can add this extension to your major health insurance.
The Difference in the Way Health and Critical Illness Insurance Works
Your health insurance plan acts as a financial partner, in the process of treatment in hospital. It is efficient either because it is cashless treatment in the network of hospitals, or where there is the reimbursement of bills, it is effective when it is a matter of immediate treatment. It does not pay your rent, EMIs nor does it pay school fees of your child when you are getting back to your feet.
That is where the critical illness insurance comes in. After a significant illness is identified and established within the provision of the policy, you are paid lump sum. Once the amount has been claimed it can be used not only to pay medical expenses, but may be used in any non-medical expenses. You may use it to find second opinion, special treatment, or even to take some months off work.
Smart policies have now been offered by more insurers. Luxury insurers, on the contrary, develop such tech options as discounts based on wellness matters, then deduction of survival, and insurance of more than 60 diseases. These updates are particularly useful to the younger earners who would otherwise not consider themselves to be high-risk.
Why You Can Not Do With a Single Type of Cover
Although health insurance can assist you in paying your bills, it may not protect you against all situations in case of illness. Suppose that you are diagnosed with kidney failure. Your medical insurance covers your hospital expenses. However, dialysis three times a week does not allow you to work. Expenses continue. It is at this point that your critical illness cover will make all the difference; you receive a lump sum payment which will be yours to spend as your require, perhaps rent payment or recovery time expenditure.
Just consider another scenario where you are hospitalised with dengue. In ten days you are at home. In this case, your critical illness policy will be of no use, but your health insurance will cover the cost of the stay at the hospital. All types of cover deal with various types of situation. This is the reason why being able to have both is more strategic than depending on one.
Each time one of the Policies is Activated
A health insurance cover is activated by treatment or hospitalisation. Critical illness insurance plan on the other hand activates when there is the identification of a particular ailment such as cancer, heart attack and/or full organ failure. You do not have to be hospitalised in order to claim any of them. You only require the confirmation of the diagnosis.
| Feature | Health Insurance | Critical Illness Insurance |
| Activation | Hospitalisation or an eligible procedure | Diagnosis of a listed critical illness |
| Type of Benefit | Reimbursement or cashless | Lump sum payout |
| Claim Frequency | Multiple claims allowed | Typically, one time per illness |
| Purpose of Use | Restricted to medical bills | No restriction on fund usage |
| Add-on Option | Covers add-ons like maternity, daily cash | Available as a rider with term plans |
| Best Time to Buy | Early adulthood to lock in lower premiums | Along with your primary health insurance (ideally before 40) |
A Case whereby Critical Illness Cover is a Requirement
It is obvious that in some cases it cannot be an optional task. In case you have a long term illness like cancer or heart disease in your family, early purchase of this insurance could save you enormous amounts of out-of-pocket costs in future.
However, it is no longer rare diseases or inherited diseases. Now lifestyle disorders, like diabetes Type 2, hypertension, fatty liver, are experienced by the young adult population, and with the passage of time, they will regress to more serious conditions. A critical illness pays a lump sum when you are placed with a critical illness diagnosis. It makes your finances breath by allowing you to cover the costs such as the time off work, recovery costs, or even home care with the help of full wages, without having to spend your savings.
Knowing the True Value Of Premiums
Although the cost of obtaining the same health care cover is normally cheaper when subscribed to health cover, the critical illness insurance allows you access to available cash without any paper work involved. No need of any receipts or even pre-approval, it only needs a diagnosis followed by a direct payment. This policy will bring you the comfort of having the headache of having to manage claims when it is time to face a health scare.
There exists flexibility too. There are policies where part of the benefit is paid out half way through terms of conditions. This will enable you to start treatment earlier and give room to figure out the way forward without the pressure of money.
Standalone Critical Illness Cover compared to Riders
Adding a rider to critical illness is easier in case you have already had a term policy on Axis Max Life Insurance. Nevertheless, riders usually lapse upon your term plan being terminated and tend to have little in the way of customisation.
A standalone policy on the other hand is more bespoke. It is able to take more diseases, it can even get extended even when you basic policy has already matured. Therefore, the individual policy may sound a good option in case you are to do long term flexibility. When you want to have an easy-to-acquire policy, but simple in nature as well, then start with a rider.
Important Things to Look at Before You Purchase
Pay attention not only to the number of the listed diseases. Consider the waiting period, survival period and exclusions thereof. Enquire, whether there are some pre-existing conditions which will not be covered. It is also prudent to look into the track record of the claim settlement of the insurer. See whether they are going to appear at the crunch time. These are some of the steps to determine whether you should take out the two policies:
- You are a sole or primary provider of your family
- It is a highly burnout prone occupation in which you work
- You are responsible with dependents, EMIs or school fees to cover
- There are diseases in your family that are serious in nature
- You desire to select care without reimbursement waiting requirements
Assuming two of them sound familiar, you should already start thinking of the possibility of combining both types of insurance.
Conclusion
You never know when the things will go wrong, but you can prepare yourself about the various ways it can go wrong. One of the plans entails treatment and the other plan entails recovery. They are combined to alleviate the financial stress as well as emotional pressure.
It is not a question of health insurance against critical illness insurance. They are designed in various occupations. One takes care of treatment cost. The other makes sure that your life outside the hospital does not go out of gear. You require the two since sickness does not always follow a single script.
Many providers have enabled you to intelligently combine covers. Such insurance management companies as Axis Max Life Insurance can cover all of it through a bundled critical illness insurance in their term plans, and disability cover so that you do not have to deal with three policies. These combined plans come in handy when you are making future plans towards either stability, family responsibility or financial independence.
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Disclaimer: This page contains a generic content and was shared only on informational and explanatory basis. It is founded on various internet based secondary sources and is liable to change. Related decisions must be sought in consultation with an expert.