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Cancer Insurance or Critical Illness Cover? Here is How to Choose

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Cancer is not just some disease that upends someone’s life in unimaginable ways. It poses a serious question – how to finance the treatment? Since cancer treatment is super expensive, no matter which stage, not having a plan can force you to give up all your hard-earned savings. Which is why, taking critical illness insurancemakes so much sense. You can also take specific cancer insurance if you want, but these two are not the same. So, how do you decide which one to buy? Read on to know.

Understanding Critical Illness Insurance Products

The concept behind critical illness insurance is that while your standard health insurance plans are good for regular medical problems, it may not be able to provide enough financial backing in case of a complicated medical issue like cancer or any other life-threatening disease which entails high treatment costs and related expenses. Critical insurance can be purchased as a standalone plan or some companies may also offer it as an add-on over and above your standard health insurance policy where it works as a booster for regular cover.

Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance

The biggest advantage of a critical illness policy is that it is wider in scope compared to cancer specific health insurance. Understandably, a cancer policy only comes into play if cancer is detected. But a critical illness policy will cover multiple critical health issues like Parkinson’s, stroke, paralysis, liver or kidney failure etc. You can buy this cover for one or two years at a time and spread your expenses. Plus, once purchased, this policy can be renewed over the course of the policyholder’s life. For people below 45 years, these plans do not need health check-ups either.

Things to Keep in Mind about Critical Illness Insurance

First, it will cost over and above the standard health insurance that you have, so you will need to save money for the extra premium. Next, if you are buying an independent policy, you will need to track another set of paperwork. Most importantly, these policies come with a waiting period, during which they will not provide any cover, so you must ensure to buy them well in advance.

Standalone Cancer Cover

Unlike critical illness insurance cover, a standalone cancer insurance policy has a very narrow focus. It only offers protection in case the policyholder develops any one of the listed types of cancer. This is not a broad policy unlike critical illness insurance, which can cover as many as 15 life threatening illnesses.Standalone cancer cover will only become active in case cancer is detected. Also, keep in mind that this policy can be offered by life insurance companies as well, whereas critical illness policies are only available from general insurance or health insurance companies.

What is Included in Cancer Insurance?

As is evident from the name, this kind of insurance is specifically focused on cancer care and treatment. This means that most, if not all kinds of cancer, will be included in the policy. Generally, the insurance policy will cover the cancers that may occur in lungs, ovaries, stomach, prostate, breast or hypo larynx. These policies may generally cover cancer at both minor or major spread as well as in early or later stages. The cover will include specific types of diagnosis, treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, along with other options and certain related expenses that may occur.

What is Not Included in Cancer Insurance?

While cancer insurance has a pretty decentcoverage, you also need to remember that there are certain terms and conditions involved. This means that certain things may not be covered in the policy. Generally, skin cancer is not covered under cancer insurance. Also, if the cancer has occurred due to some sexually transmitted disease, or it can be traced back to an infection caused by HIV or AIDS, the same will not be covered under the insurance policy.

How the Cancer Insurance Policy Works

As with any insurance policy, you can purchase cancer insurance by paying a certain premium. Subject to different terms and conditions, you will get cover in case of cancer diagnosis. Cancer insurance policy will provide payouts at different stages of the disease. The payout starts when diagnosis is confirmed, and it can be 20-25 percent in case of early stage diagnosis. The balance payout will be given in case of critical stages.

Conclusion

While it is obvious that everyone needs to get cancer cover of some kind, the decision to choose between critical illness insurance and cancer-only insurance is something which you need to take after weighing their pros and cons, costs, and your requirements. You can check out the options HDFC ERGO offers.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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