5 factors to consider while choosing a critical illness plan

In case you have any hereditary record of critical or chronic ailment, you must consider opting for a critical illness health plan.  

What is critical illness insurance? 

In the case of severe critical health issues like coma, cancer, cardiac arrest, etc., the treatment costs tend to be very expensive and often long-term. Considering such tough circumstances, insurers have crafted special critical illness plans. 

A critical illness plan offers financial coverage for specifically listed critical ailments. It involves various charges like special consultation charges, specialised treatment costs, etc. Most of these expenses are not covered under a standard health cover. Therefore, a critical illness insurance plan comes in handy under such circumstances.  

To ensure optimum protection, it is best to maintain both standard health coverage and critical illness insurance.  

Critical illness cover can also be added as a rider to your existing health cover. However, the coverage extent of a separate critical illness plan is comparatively much greater.  

Dynamics of a Critical Health Insurance 

Unlike any standard health insurance, a critical illness plan never warrants any hospitalisation for the insured person to avail of the plan benefits. Usually a standalone critical illness plan is a fixed benefit health insurance plan with lumpsum payout on diagnosis of any of the listed critical ailments. 
 
Here, once you get diagnosed with any of the listed critical ailments, the insurer will offer a lump sum payout based on the sum insured of the plan, irrespective of the treatment costs. However, based on the policy terms, you need to outlive the survival period, i.e., survive for a specific predetermined period after the detection of the ailment, to avail of the benefits.  

Some of the common critical ailments include paralysis, cancer, coma, heart issues, kidney issues, etc., as the specific list of the plan mentions.  

Key factors to consider while choosing the best critical illness insurance 

While choosing the most suitable critical illness insurance, you need to consider certain specific and crucial factors to ensure the best coverage protection: 

1. Covered diseases:  

The coverage extent is regarded as the most crucial aspect of any insurance, and critical illness policy is also no exception. Not all insurance plans allow coverage for all sorts of critical ailments. You have to ensure what are the types of ailments covered under your chosen plan. 

Ideally, a CI plan also covers multiple medical care costs, surgery costs, and other expenses. So, one of the principal advantages of having CI insurance is that it allows coverage for various uncertain and unforeseen health situations.  

However, you must note that the claim settlements are always based on the terms and conditions of the chosen policy. 

2. Survival period clause:  

Usually, all CI plans to observe a survival period clause. This is a unique feature of this sort of plan, which refers to the specific time the concerned insured individual needs to live after the diagnosis of the critical ailment. 

This span usually ranges between 14 days and 30 days, depending on the terms of the chosen plan. Once this time limit is over, the insurer will pay a lump sum as a policy benefit.  

Once the payout is over, the critical illness insurance automatically ceases to exist.  

3. Sum insured:  

A critical illness plan with extensive coverage is always the most desirable condition. It ensures sufficient coverage despite challenging and demanding circumstances. This is decided by the sum insured amount you have chosen.  

The higher the coverage and the sum insured, the higher the premium. The ideal purpose of any health plan is to reduce your financial burden, especially during emergencies. So, the premium payment is never desired to be a burden, compromising on your current standard of living and lifestyle. Ensure to be critical and wise in making your choice to maintain a healthy financial portfolio.  

4. Exclusions:  

No health plan offers 100% coverage. The policy fine print mentions all the inclusions and exclusions in detail, along with all the terms and conditions, based on which you need to ensure your claim settlement when needed. You must clarify all the doubts and ambiguities beforehand to avoid any last-minute unpleasant surprises.  

5. Premium affordability:  

To ensure your affordability, you have to clarify the premium payable amount based on your circumstances and requirements. The premium rates tend to increase with the amount of sum insured, the additional riders chosen (if applicable), the tenure, the coverage extent, etc.  

The premium payable amount must not prove to be a financial burden. You must be able to continue the plan comfortably without compromising on your current living standards and expenses. You can easily utilise the premium calculator to make an informed decision.