Critical Illness insurance is a contract between an insurance policyholder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to make lump sum payment to designated insured on getting diagnosed with any of the listed critical diseases and satisfying survival clauses of the minimum number of days.

Types: Both term products and permanent products are available.

BENEFITS OF CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE

• Helps pay the bills when the insured is sick to work.
• Protects retirement savings.
• Provides a second opinion from a medical consultancy point of view.
• Travel for treatments
• Childcare during treatment and recovery
• Domestic help (live-in nurse)

CRITICAL DISEASES/CONDITIONS

It varies from insurer to insurer but major ones are as follows

• Cancer
• Cerebral vascular accident (CVA)
• Heart attack
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Kidney failure
• Major organ transplant
• Multiple sclerosis
• Coma
• Paralysis
• Dismemberment
• Blindness
• Deafness
• Muteness (loss of speech)
• Major burns
• Benign brain tumor
• Occupational injury HIV
• Motor neuron disease (Lou Gherig’s disease)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cystic Fibrosis