Why Canadians Need Critical Illness Insurance

Learn Why Canadians Need Critical Illness Insurance

Surviving serious medical conditions is not easy and the path to recovery can be costly. Critical illness insurance is a new type of insurance where you will get a one-time lump sum payment if you have been diagnosed with a serious condition. This payment may also be tax-free. The best part about this benefit is that you get to decide how you want to spend the money. In this article, we will explore why Canadians need critical illness insurance.

Definitions of Critical Illnesses in Canada

In the year 2013, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association issued these critical illness descriptions (also known as Critical Illness Benchmark Definitions). These descriptions are aimed at making the language more systematic around the usual conditions and disorders throughout the domain.

Therefore, patients receive a tax-free, lump-sum benefit after satisfying the waiting period when you’re diagnosed with one of the 24 critical illnesses. This usually includes cancer, stroke, paralysis and heart attack.

Why is Critical Illness Insurance Important?

Critical illnesses are now more widespread in Canada as medical advances can keep someone from dying from a condition that previously would have made survival impossible. There are more than 200,000 cancer cases and 50,000 strokes identified annually in the country. While the percentage of survivors of these afflictions is rising, recoveries can be intimidating. Further, to recover you must bring about major changes to your lifestyle and everyday requirements.

One of the top reasons to get critical illness insurance is to reduce debt and other financial constraints while you recover from your illness. Furthermore, it also acts as financial support for you and your spouse, who may be taking time off work to take care of you. Since you can spend the benefit as you wish, you can also use it to bring in additional help at home, for example, hiring a nanny to take care of your children. Finally, this benefit gives you the opportunity to seek professional medical treatments and medications that are not covered by private or government health insurance plans.

How Critical Illness Insurance Works for Canadians?

Critical illness insurance funds a flat-fee benefit after diagnosis of the covered medical condition. It also considers a recuperating timespan of specifically 30 days.

A variety of plans and choices provide different amounts and categories of coverage (ranging between $10,000 and $2.5 million). The requirements may cover (from 1 to 25+), the recuperation timespan (0-30 days), or the term (a 10-year term to lifetime coverage).

Finally, the established curable but still detrimental ailments may qualify for a fractional payment not exceeding 25%. With a few – but not every policy, you can make several part claims with different impacts on your qualifying criteria. These criteria may lead to full payment if you contract a critical ailment or disease.

Critical Illness Considerations

To conclude, no one but you can decide the kind of protection you need. Without the proper knowledge, you may never know what to do in the face of an unexpected illness. Therefore, you must be aware of the conditions that your critical illness insurance policy covers before you buy it. Apart from what it covers, you must acquaint yourself with the definitions of every illness as mentioned by your insurer. This makes it easy for you to put up a valid claim. You will have a life free of stress with the support of critical illness insurance. If you fall critically sick, you and your family still have a financially secure future against any unforeseen medical calamity.

Canadians should consider purchasing critical illness insurance for the benefit of them and their family. One of the best plans to consider is by Manulife. For more information about critical illness insurance, contact us and we will be happy to help.