We have heard of people having to quit their handsome-paying jobs after the diagnosis of a critical illness. In such a situation, this disease can impact their financial stability, drastically because of loss of income, while the person must pay a hefty amount for the treatment. However, due to today's medical advancements we'll live longer than our ancestors but, likely with serious medical conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, kidney failure, liver disease etc. And living with these conditions costs a lot of money.
Usually, health insurance plans do not offer cover for critical illnesses in their plans. And even if they do, they offer it as an add-on over, thereby charging extra premium, which even then may be insufficient. Critical Illness insurance plans offer you extensive cover for all the deadly diseases listed under the policy. One should go for a critical illness policy even if they have a health insurance policy offered by their employer or otherwise, because a critical illness can occur to anyone at any time during a lifetime and because the expenses incurred on such treatment is huge. Also, critical illness plans come with lesser waiting periods and greater sum insured amounts as compared to regular health insurance policies.
Factors |
Critical Illness Insurance |
Normal Health Insurance |
Scope |
It is designed to cover life-threatening critical illnesses that require immediate treatment and long-term medication. |
It provides comprehensive coverage for various diseases, including hospitalization and treatment expenses. |
Benefit |
Hospitalization is not required to avail policy benefits. Diagnosis is enough to get a lump sum payment. |
The insured can get the reimbursement of incurred hospitalization expenses by submitting bills. You can also avail cashless facilities at network hospitals. |
No.of Illnesses |
It covers up to 36 critical illnesses, including cancer, end-stage renal failure, brain tumor, etc. |
It covers different types of chronic diseases, medical treatments, and procedures. |
Waiting Period |
Waiting period depends on the severity of illness. Generally, it has a 90-day initial waiting period. |
It has a 30 days initial waiting period and ranges up to 48 months for pre-existing diseases. |