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Critical Illness
Insurance
“1 in 3 men will develop a life-threatening cancer”
“A new case of cancer is diagnosed every 4 minutes”
“Every year over 330,000 people in Germany have a heart attack or contract cancer”
“1 in 2 Canadian heart attack victims are under age 65”
“75% of males survive more than 5 years after a heart attack”
“Every year in the UK there are 100,000 strokes. 75% are still alive a year later”
Ask yourself the following questions:
If you don't have medical insurance who pays your hospital bills?
Who pays for your health care expenses not covered by employer or government plans?
Who pays for the travel, child care and all the other ancillary costs?
Who replaces your lost income when you need time off work whether it be for yourself or to provide care to a loved one?
Who pays your mortgage and other debt commitments?
If your spouse or partner is diagnosed do you have the financial resource to stop working and provide the care?
Is critical illness insurance really needed?
We know life cover provides a tax-free cash lump sum payment in the event of death, but what do you have if you survive and recover a critical illness such as a heart attack - stroke or cancer?
The improvements in medicine have resulted in a far greater chance of surviving a critical illness. What were once fatal illnesses are now increasingly survivable.
Yet, our demanding lifestyles and our environments make us more likely to suffer from a critical illness.
Sadly however and all too often survival doesn’t mean a full recovery nor does it mean a financial recovery.
In the UK during the 1970s, a man diagnosed with prostate cancer such as Bill had a 20% chance of surviving more than 10 years.
In 2020 and according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology, for men with local or regional prostate cancer: the relative 10-year survival rate is now 98% the relative 15-year survival rate is 96%
This trend is not limited to men.
Breast cancer survival rates have increased too. In Susan's video she discusses her breast cancer experience whilst Laura explains that not having critical illness cover is proving very hard for her having been fired from her job as a result of her diagnosis.
In the 1970s only 40% of women survived more than 10 years,
In 2020 the average 5-year survival rate for women with invasive breast cancer is now 91%. The average 10-year survival rate for women with invasive breast cancer is 84%. If the cancer is located only in the breast, the 5-year survival rate of women with breast cancer is 99%
With 90% of heart attack victims in the UK under 75 surviving, a good question to ask is: how will I and my family survive the financial implications?
Medical insurance may cover the cost of many critical illness treatments, but you should also be looking at your financial circumstances after the surgeries and treatments.
Given the recovery time required following surgeries and treatments, you are unlikely to be able to return to work quickly and will need some form of income replacement and / or financial support.
Critical illness insurance protection provides this financial support by paying out a tax-free cash lump sum upon diagnosis.
Even a small amount of critical illness cover can help make the difference and help prevent mounting debts and mounting stress at a time when you can least afford them.
For further information on the financial impact of a cancer diagnosis read the National Cancer Registry Ireland report which details the costs incurred by cancer patients and their families.
We have provided a number of articles within our News & Blog pages that you will find of value (simply use the category labels "Cancer" or "Critical Illness" to locate the articles).
How does critical illness insurance work?
Critical illness insurance plans are uniquie in that unlike income /disability protection plans critical illness insurance plans are not dependent on whether you are employed or self-employed - critical illness insurance plans are underwritten on your health status.
This means that even 'stay at home mums' qualify for critical illness insurance protection.
Once a critical illness insurance plan has been applied for, underwitten and issued, you and your spouse / partner will benefit by having the vital financial protection should either of you be diagnosed with any of the critical illness conditions listed below.
The amount of critical illness financial protection provided by a policy will be dependent on the amount of cover you have purchased - clients can purchase cover from USD 50,000 up to USD 2,000,000
After a diagnosis has been made and the mandatory 30 day waiting period has elapsed, the tax-free cash lump sum can be paid into your account and be used entirely as you see fit.
The following are typical use cases of how clients use their critical illness claim proceeds:
• supplementing income
• reducing or paying off debts
• remodel an existing home or purchase a new more appropriate home
• fund further treatments
• making the decision to stop work entirely
Who is critical illness insurance designed for?
Applications for critical illness insurance protection can be made by expatriates who fall into the following groups.
- individuals
- husbands
- housewives
- employed
- self-employed
Salary levels for the employed and taxable income for the self-employed are not relevant factors in determing benefit levels - critical illness insurance benefit levels are solely underwritten on health criteria.
In addition medical examinations are not always required - we will advise you in advance of the tests and examinations that are necessary.
Critical Illness Conditions Covered
- Cancers (life threatening)
- Stroke
- Heart Attacks
- Coronary Artery By-Pass Grafts
- Major Organ Transplants
- Kidney Failure
- Paralysis
- Third Degree Burns
- Blindness
