Critical Illness Insurance

One very important and most often overlooked form of insurance is Critical Illness coverage. CI coverage offers a lump sum payment and reimbursement payments for covered critical illnesses. They often include cancers, multiple sclerosis, heart disease, paralysis, kidney failure, loss of two or more limbs, blindness (and sometimes even more conditions.) CI coverage is a vital tool in covering the gaps of other forms of insurance. These are gaps that we do not realize exist until it is usually too late. For example, most employer based health insurance policies or HMO's cover treatments inside a PPO or preferred provider network. But what do you do if you are advised to leave your network or search for "out-of-network" care for highly specialized or experimental cancer treatment? (A situation that can easily arise, if cancer is diagnosed.) This is an example of a major gap that we are seeing all too often in the industry. Another example is the the gap between your disability coverage and your need for care. Disability coverage is designed to be only a percentage of your total salary , to encourage a speedy return to work. But what do you do if you are disabled due to a critical illness and you have added cost of care due to the illness?
Critical illness coverage is a vital tool in protecting your financial and medical future. For pennies on the dollar the financial risk of a critical illness can be passed to a major "A" grade or better insurance carrier. There are return of premium riders that can return the premiums that you pay for this coverage at age 65 when you begin medicare coverage. You can also choose to keep the coverage after 65 to expand your options of care providers (outside Medicare) in the event that a critical illness arises.