Standard Health insurance is a widely available and most popular health insurance policy in India. The term insurance added makes these two policies most significant. These are on the bucket list of almost all the individuals. With changing time there is a greater health risk. In the last decade deaths due to illness like cancer, heart diseases, kidney failure, other critical illness have increased. One reason could be the degrading quality of our life. We are paying less attention to our health. The air we breathe we breath in, the water we drink all are getting more polluted.
The risk of dying with critical illness is increasing among people above 70 years of age. These bring the need of availing
critical illness insurance. Many people do have a term plan. It is a common belief that the term plan is sufficient for health cover. With the changing trend, now people need more protection. Getting a critical illness cover could be a smart decision. One needs a plan specifically covering these illnesses.
Let’s take a look at how critical illness is different from a term plan or standard health insurance.
Amount
In a standard health insurance lump-sum, the amount is payable to the insurer. All the hospitalisation cost is covered. There may not be a death cover. With critical illness insurance, all expenses are covered. The family will also be given the insured sum in case of death. It is a huge benefit for people who are already suffering a lot due to diagnosis with severe disease.
Critical Ailments
A critical illness policy covers a majority of critical illnesses, including cancer, heart attack, bypass surgery, kidney failure, paralysis. In cases of diagnosis with these, the full inured sum will be utilised in the treatment. On having a standard policy there are few exclusions. The treatment can get very costly, even after having a cover.
Travel and Foreign Treatment
With a standard policy, there is often a limitation on what is covered and what is not. Majority of the time you are not allowed to get treatment outside the country where you get the policy. In a case where you require specific treatment by foreign physicians, the policy will not cover the treatment. Critical illness aims to avail the best possible treatment for the person. You can travel anywhere. The critical illness policy will cover your travelling cost and also the expense which would include after hospitalisation.
Specific use of money details not needed
With a standard policy, you will have to worry about updating insurer at every step about your investments. Critical illness covers the lump sum amount. There is no need to update the insurers at every step once the illness is detected. When filing a claim the process would be slightly different. You may not be required to attach your medical bills.
Rider Plan
Critical illness insurance is available as a rider plan. The person can opt for this plan along with the standard health insurance. The premium and the cover would be lower. It could reduce the burden if you can’t afford the premium.
