Critical Illness Insurance - End Up Empty Handed Without It


Most Americans spend more money than they can make, leaving them with high personal debt. Families are taking out home equity loans and second mortgages to extend their spending limits. Most Americans are just a heart attack, cancer or stroke away from financial disaster.

Fortunately, with advances in medical technology, patients are no longer dying. People are outliving their illnesses and continuing on their lives. When a critical illness strikes it puts a financial toll on the family. Most people have health insurance through their jobs. However, they will either lose their benefits because they were too sick to go back to work or they couldn’t pay their premiums anymore. You can have the best health insurance policy and still have a financial problem. For most of us, we still have a financial obligation to our family. Health insurance will not pay for your living expenses such as your mortgage, utility bills or food for the family. Financial concerns impacted your health even though more people are surviving critical illnesses. This can increase stress for the illness that can prolong the recovery period.

Despite the fact disability income protection plans are widely available it isn’t enough to help people through this financial crisis. Since 1983, Critical Illness Insurance became very popular in many countries, such as the UK, Australia, Canada and the United States. It is an insurance policy that pays out one lump sum of money based on a specific qualified critical illness. The lump sum is based on the amount you need and how much you can afford. It is not tied to your income.

Is this kind of insurance expensive? No, it’s far more expensive not to own a critical illness policy. Just in case you are a little skeptical check it out for yourself by clicking here. Keep in mind not all critical illness policies are the same. Some will have certain restrictions such as waiting periods. Some will make you wait 90 days to get a check. You want to find one with the shortest elimination period. Some policies available only have the waiting period in the beginning of the policy i.e. you cannot make a claim within the first 60 to 90 days. The other thing to look out for is some health insurance companies offer their critical illness insurance as part of the health insurance. There are two downsides to this:

1) The premiums are subject to change based on the health insurance market, which could be yearly.

2) Most people are changing their health insurance every couple years. When you change your policy you will lose the critical illness policy.

Other critical illness insurance policies are on a term life insurance structure. This can have more advantages than on the health insurance ‘chassis’. There are three advantages:

1) The premiums could be locked in ten to twenty years, similar to a term life insurance policy
2) The policy is separate from your health insurance policy. This way you can have the freedom of choosing the health insurance policy that is best fitting for your family even if the policy does not offer critical illness. This also allows you to buy a policy if your employer is paying for, or the majority of, your health insurance at work.
3) The benefit will pay according to the policy in a result of a death as well. Some restrictions could apply. Refer to your agent or policy certificate.

The policy is not limited to homeowners, the wealthy or the poor. Critical Illness Insurance is for everyone. If you have to take time away from work because your spouse is now sick, critical illness coverage would eliminate the added burden of losing the income that is required to pay their bills.

The expense of health insurance could be astronomical, especially if coverage is denied or cancelled. Critical illness insurance is routinely confused with health insurance. People have become bankrupt trying to pay medical bills that were not covered by their health insurance provider. The majority of health insurance policies feature limited benefits, ceilings and caps on the yearly payouts and/or life time maximums. Purchasing a critical illness policy will guarantee your ability to meet life’s financial obligations.

So, how much coverage will you need? That depends on your situation. Your family can only determine the amount you want based on what you can afford. There are three questions to ask to determine the amount:

1) How much are your monthly expenses
2) How much is left on your mortgage
3) If you couldn’t go back to work for a while, how much would you need to continue your lifestyle.

In conclusion: Fifty percent of bankruptcies are due to medical bankruptcy. Most of them had health insurance at the time of the onset of the illness. All of us could be one paycheck away from losing everything we have worked so hard for. Unfortunately, our expenses don’t stop when our income stops. If you don’t have the ability to go back to work you won’t have a source of income. Fortunately, now you have the ability to choose the amount of the lump sum benefit, and is not tied to how much your income. Check it out today before it’s too late.

Butch Zemar
Elite Benefits of America
www.EliteBenefits.net

Posted in 1 Tagged: Affordable Health Insurance, critical illness insurance, disability insurance, Health Insurance, Health Savings Account, long term care insurance, Medical Insurance