When taking critical illness insurance, opt for multiple cover

Critical illness cover is a benefit policy wherein a lump sum amount is paid on diagnosis of certain diseases as per the insurance cover. Earlier, people used to take life cover fearing premature death and leaving the family to cope without a breadwinner. But due to the modern technology and advancement of treatments, most of the critical illnesses can be treated well and get cured. This requires a huge financial support, for which medical insurance is the only solution for most of the ordinary public.

The importance of critical illness cover is rising due to the substantial increase in the number of patients suffering from illnesses like cancer, heart attack and organ failures. Due to the longer treatment tenure and the cost of non-medical and medical expenses, the critical illness cover is required. The sum insured is paid immediately subject to policy conditions. We get advanced treatment in various hospitals and the expenses, based on the facility provided by the hospitals. In critical illness policy, insurers pay the sum insured in lump sum once the disease is diagnosed, subject to certain survival conditions. So the patient can meet the expenses by this insurance even without a hospitalization. An insured member can utilize the money for treatment of diseases, expense related to lifestyle change based on doctor's advice, alternate medicines in India as well as outside country, organ donor expenses, etc.

It can be either standalone critical policy or rider/ add-on cover linked to a basic life or med claim. There is no difference between these two with regard to claim settlement. The sum insured under critical illness policy will be paid in lump sum irrespective of stand alone or rider/add on.

As far as critical illness is concerned, the sum insured will be paid in lump sum on diagnosis subject to certain survival conditions. Most of the insurance companies are insisting 30 days survival. In these kind of situations, under critical insurance lump sum plan, people may try for different mode of treatments even without hospitalization. For the re-imbursement method, most of the insurers allow only allopathic medical expenses or impose specific conditions that may not be viable for the situation. One should check the policy conditions, and the critical illnesses cover under the policy and sum insured (should be adequate).

Illness is always an uncertain event. It's always better to go for multiple illness cover policy rather than go for one or two diseases. That would also provide the premium advantage.

Most of the life and general insurance companies provide critical illness policies. Reimbursement mode is applicable in standard mediclaim policies.

A few insurance companies are offering women specific critical illness insurance policies. For these products, the premium needs to be checked. It is up to the customer's discretion to opt for them.

It's always better to have a separate critical illness cover policy as it offers lump sum payment. Once the illness is diagnosed, the customer can decide the method or mode of treatment even without hospitalization, or multiple methods. Since the critical illness cover offers lump sum payment, the insured person will have the liberty to meet the medical expenses at his convenience.

Source: dnaindia.com

95% of middle-class Indians do not have enough health insurance

Around 95% of middle-class Indians do not have enough health insurance to cover some of the most common procedures and ailments in the country, according to a report.

Surprisingly, consumers above 45 who are at higher risk of health problems and closer to retirement, are least prepared for emergencies as they are under-insured by an average of 69%, reveals the report.

The study is based on data obtained from 10,000 consumers across eight major cities, aged 25 to 45+ and in the income bracket ranging from Rs 6 to 36 lakh annually.

The report further points pout that it is getting more expensive to treat some of the most commonly occurring diseases in India. Amid an inflationary environment in India for at least a decade, prices four years ago were not exactly low. The fact that they have again risen, by double digits in some cities, is noteworthy.

It is clear that there is room for Indian prices to increase further. We believe that current inflationary trends are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. While it is no surprise that typical treatment costs in the US are sometimes more than 10x what they are in India, that they are more than twice as expensive in countries closer to home such as Malaysia and Thailand, means Indians could soon be paying more.

According to the report, over the last 4 years, premiums of most insurers have increased only once, in 2014, over the previous year, reflecting a CAGR of 2.79% (for sum insured of Rs 2,00,000 and Rs 3,00,000) and 3.29% (for sum insured Rs 5,00,000 and Rs 10,00,00).

Data show some 95% of our users are not adequately insured, with 62% of 10,000 BigDecisions users having less than 50% of required health cover. Consumers above 45 (with higher needs, typically higher incomes and fewer years to retirement) are a high-risk group – they are the least prepared for health emergencies as they are under-insured by an average of 69%. 

Source: indiainfoline.com