Critical Illness Insurance

• Gives You Cash: It gives you lump sum cash on getting a critical illness listed in your plan. These illnesses can be cancer, stroke, heart attack & many others.
• Pays For Income Loss: You can use the lump sum cash amount as safety money in case of loss of income in business or job due to critical illness.
• Other Medical Costs: You can use this cash to pay for regular medical expenses which are not covered in your regular health insurance plans.
• Peace Of Mind: A critical illness insurance protects you against any medical emergency related to various critical illnesses. Hence, it keeps you free of worries.

A critical illness insurance is therefore, offers the following features:

• Critical Illness Coverage: Critical Illness Insurance Policies provides coverage for 36 major critical diseases including kidney diseases, heart complications, tumor and cancer, etc. Since each insurer's list of critical diseases is unique, it's crucial to review your policy to understand which illnesses are covered and how many of them are included.
• Easy Claim Process: The claim can be easily made and processed after the diagnosis is made. To ensure you choose the right critical illness health insurance, take your decision post assessing the claim-settlement ratio of the insurance provider.
• Lump-Sum Payment Option: There are critical illness plans that let you choose a large sum insured, offering complete coverage in the event of a life-threatening disease or costly treatment. At the time of claim, the insurer issues a one-time lump sum payment.
• Hassle-Free Experience: You get all your policy needs met within minutes, with Coverfox. There is almost zero to low paperwork. And in the digitized world, you can experience fast and smooth processing whether buying a critical illness policy or simply renewing a policy.
• Cashless Facility: The patient receives rapid treatment, which is one of the most significant benefits of critical illness coverage. In other words, the insured can obtain care at any hospital in the network without having to pay any cash. By undergoing treatment under a network hospital, you can avoid making any emergency cash payments.
• Waiting Period: Usually, the policy has a waiting period ranging from 48 to 90 days. This waiting period may differ as per different insurers. It is advisable to check policy details and see if they meet your requirements.

Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance

• Protection For You: Provides life-long coverage for your loved ones.
• Critical Illness Benefit: Ensures critical benefit payout in case of a diagnosed illness (out the 36 major critical illnesses).
• Tax Benefit: Tax exemption up to Rs 15000 (Rs20000 in case of senior citizen) under section 80C and 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• Accidental Death Benefit: In case of sudden death by accident, the amount of sum insured is paid to the nominee.
• 100% Benefit Payout: You get 100% of sum insured as payment if diagnosed with a terminal illness.

• Rider: A critical illness rider is like an add-on to your basic health insurance policy. Under a critical insurance rider, you are paid a lump-sum amount on the diagnosis of such critical illness specified in the policy. The rider comes with an additional payment on the insurance premium. Though, today, several insurance companies are developing new critical illness riders that cover both lifestyle and old diseases, it is always wise to confirm the extent of coverage prior to adding a rider.
• Standalone Policy: A standalone critical illness cover is much better as compared to a rider. This is because it provides a comprehensive coverage and also offers a much larger coverage as compared to a rider. If the mediclaim or health insurance policy provides coverage of Rs. 2 lakhs, the critical illness rider will provide coverage of only Rs. 2 lakhs. If you want comprehensive insurance coverage, insurance experts recommend purchasing a stand-alone policy.

Here is the list of the diseases covered under critical illness health insurance. However, the inclusion may vary depending on the insurance provider.

• Cancer
• Heart attack
• Kidney failure
• Multiple sclerosis
• Stroke
• Coma
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Major organ transplant
• Paralysis
• Bone marrow
• Benign brain tumor
• Major burns
• Brain surgery
• Blindness
• Deafness
• Parkinson’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Open chest CABG
• Goodpasture’s syndrome

Times are tough and any medical emergency can cause detrimental effects on your finances. Hence, it is recommended to be prepared. To your assistance, Coverfox is continuously working towards bringing the best insurance policies that are crucial for you and your family. With Coverfox, you can get free quotes from insurers, compare the best health insurance policies online, buy and maintain your policies in a fast and hassle-free manner.

Coverfox’s customer care support is active 24x7 to assist you and help you make the best policy decisions which benefit you and your family in the long-run. Whenever you need us, you will find us here. Because we care.

However, not all types of illness get a place in a critical illness insurance policy. Mentioned below are the aspects not covered under the policy:

• Critical illness diagnosed in the waiting period
• Occurrence of death within 30 days of diagnosis
• Critical illness caused due to the consumption of smoking, tobacco, alcohol or drugs
• Illness arising out of internal or external congenital disorder
• Any critical condition related to childbirth or pregnancy
• HIV/AIDS
• Critical Illness inflicted as a result of war, terrorism, civil war or military operations
• Dental Care or Cosmetic Surgeries
• Treatment for Infertility
• Hormone replacement treatment
• Treatment conducted in foreign lands, i.e., Out of India

Critical illness cover has been a necessity for the longest time. But, with the worldwide havoc caused by COVID 19, a critical insurance cover has become non-negotiable. Coverage against life-threatening diseases is provided by a critical illness insurance policy.

Multiple hospitalizations over an extended period of time may be required to treat such serious illnesses. In addition to the hospitalization expenditures, there are additional expenses such as doctor's fees, medical bills, and more. You can cover these large costs with the lump sum payment provided by your critical illness cover.

Not opting for a critical illness cover can lead to a big hole in your pocket where you spend a major chunk of your hard-earned and saved money into the treatment expenses. And the next thing you see is your savings vanishing in no time.

• List of illnesses: There's are list of critical illnesses covered in your policy. You can claim only if you get one of these critical illnesses from your policy list.
• Survival Period: There's a minimum period you need to survive after getting a listed critical illness. It can be anywhere between 14 to 30 days.
• No Bills Needed: The insurer gives you a fixed pre-decided cash after getting a listed critical illness.
• No Reimbursement: This fixed cash isn't a reimbursement of your medical costs. It's a one-time amount paid to you after submitting medical papers that prove that you have a listed critical illness.
• Income Loss: You can use this fixed cash for your loss of income or paying those medical expenses that are not covered in your regular health plan.

• Double Benefit: A critical illness insurance offers tax benefits upto 1 lakh under Section 80D of IT Act of 1961.
• Tax deduction on premium: Get a tax deduction of up to 25,000/- per budgetary year on premium paid
• Deduction on annual health check-ups: Expenses due to annual health check-ups are entitled for tax benefits. The tax exemption limit here is 5,000/-.