Life is unpredictable; one day, you’re living your normal life, and the next, you could be facing a serious health challenge that you never saw coming. In a country like India, where healthcare costs are rising every year, this can be particularly worrying. You might have heard of medical insurance and wondered if it’s enough to protect you and your family, but have you ever considered how critical illness insurance plays a crucial role in safeguarding your financial stability when life throws you a curveball? In this article, we’ll understand exactly how critical illness insurance can protect you from those unexpected healthcare costs that can turn your world upside down.
What is Critical Illness Insurance Coverage?
This type of insurance provides you with a lump sum amount if you’re diagnosed by a registered doctor with any of the listed serious ailments. It’s different from your regular medical insurance, which usually reimburses hospitalisation costs or pays for treatments up to a certain limit. Critical illness insurance gives you a single payout that you can use for anything, whether it’s your treatment, paying off loans, or even daily expenses while you’re unable to work.
Imagine that you’re leading a healthy lifestyle, going about your daily routine, and suddenly, you’re diagnosed with a critical illness like cancer or a heart condition. It’s not something you planned for, and it can be emotionally and financially devastating. This is where critical illness insurance comes into play, giving you that much-needed financial cushion.
Why You Need A Critical illness insurance Rider on Top of Medical insurance?
You will probably ask, “But I already have medical insurance; why do I need critical illness insurance?” Well, here is the thing, most medical insurance generally covers hospitalisation, doctor visits, surgeries, and medication. While this kind of insurance is important, you may need more if you are going to be treated for a serious illness that might require long-term treatment, recovery, or even adjustments to your lifestyle. Critical illnesses often come with other expenses not covered by regular medical insurance.
For example, let’s say you have been diagnosed with a critical illness like a stroke. Although your medical insurance may cover your hospitalisation, what about the costs of long-term physiotherapy, home care, or even modifying your house to cope with your condition? Not to mention, you may suffer a loss of income if you are unable to work for a long period. This is where critical illness insurance can be very useful. You can handle these other expenses through a lump sum, and it will keep you from eating into your savings or going into debt.
Benefits of a Critical Illness Rider:
The following are a few of the benefits that follow when you add in a Critical Illness rider on top of your existing Medical insurance:
- Financial Security in Tough Times: Critical illnesses like cancer or heart disease can be incredibly expensive to treat, and you wouldn’t want to drain your savings or go into debt trying to cover these costs. A critical illness insurance payout acts as a financial safety net, making sure that you don’t have to worry about money when you should be focusing on getting better.
- Replacement of your income: Your illness could impact your family, especially if you’re the primary breadwinner, and the lump sum payment from your critical illness insurance helps your family maintain their lifestyle and cover daily expenses, even if you’re unable to work.
- Peace of Mind: Dealing with a serious illness is stressful enough without having to worry about finances, and with critical illness insurance, you have one less thing to stress about, allowing you to concentrate on your recovery without financial distractions.
- Quality Care: Getting the best treatment quickly is crucial when you are dealing with a serious illness, and the funds from your critical illness insurance can help you access top-notch medical care, giving you the best chance at a full recovery.
- Tax Benefits: Under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, you can also claim tax deductions on the premium you pay for your critical illness insurance, making it not just a practical choice but a financial one.
Who Should Consider Buying a Critical Illness Rider?
The following are some individuals who should consider buying the rider on top of their medical insurance:
- For Breadwinners: When you are the primary breadwinner in the family, your loved ones are dependent upon you for their livelihood. For example, if you are a working parent, it will relieve your children, who are in your care and entirely dependent upon your earnings for their schooling and other household expenditures; therefore, this insurance will ensure that your responsibilities are taken care of when you are unable to work.
- Self-Employed: Running your own business or being a freelancer is a challenge in itself, more so in respect of health benefits on top of that, you are not entitled to full-fledged health coverage as is the case with salaried employees. In case you cannot work due to some grievous illness, critical illness insurance comes to your aid by taking care of your treatment and daily living expenses so that your business or freelance work may not come to a standstill.
- Those Who Have a History in Their Family of Major Diseases: In this case, if any of your parents or any close relation has suffered from some serious disease, you are also prone to that disease. For example, if one of your family members has had or currently suffers from heart disease, you may be under threat of having to go through the same problems, so having a critical illness insurance rider can help put your mind at rest; you know that you will be financially safe in case you happen to be in the same trouble.
- People with High-Stress Jobs: Sometimes, certain factors silently play their role in laying the foundation for health problems, especially those related to the cardiovascular system. If your job is high-pressure, you may want to consider critical illness insurance. In case your health is under siege because of stress, this will help you financially to have the best possible treatment and take all the time you need to recover properly.
- People Who Lack Adequate Savings: Medical treatments are expensive, more so in the case of serious ailments, and getting an unplanned diagnosis in the absence of a chunky cushion of savings is likely to get you in a tight corner. This means a critical illness insurance rider will help cover such expenses, so you wouldn’t need to dip your hands into your savings or get loans to manage your medical bills.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, even though medical insurance is indispensable, it may prove inadequate in the case of a critical illness. Critical illness insurance will provide extra protection against such an eventuality, wherein a person ought to get the treatment without additional stress caused by high expenses. In a country like India, where health expenditure has been increasing at a rapid speed, it can make a hell of a difference to have such insurance at one’s beck and call.
Disclaimer
The above information is for illustrative purposes only. For more details, please refer to the policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.
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