Critical Illness Insurance
Critical Illness Insurance was developed by Dr. Marius Barnard (the brother of Christian Barnard, the doctor who performed the first successful open heart transplant surgery) in South Africa in 1983.
The Financial consequences of a serious illness are often worst than those of death. In addition, the chances of a critical illness attack on any of us are much higher than those of death, at least before retirement.
Critical illness insurance is a kind of living benefit protection and is also referred to as dreadful disease or critical care / recovery insurance. This is a relatively new kind of policy that pays you a lump sum and TAX FREE amount, a certain number of days after the diagnosis of one of the carefully circumscribed conditions that make up the majority of life threatening illnesses. The waiting period in usually 30 days, but some plans offer even 0 day waiting. If the insued dies during the waiting period, only the premium paid into the policy is paid back to the designated beneficiary.
Common conditions covered under most plans include:
- Heart Attack
- Loss of Limbs
- Major organ transplant
- Stroke
- Blindness
- Coma
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Deafness
- Severe burns
- Parkinson's Disease
- Cancer
- Paralysis
- Loss of speech
- Kidney Failure
- Heart bypass surgery
- Motor Neuron Disease (ALS)
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Occupational HIV
- Aortic Surgery
- Heart Valve Replacement
- Loss of Independent Existence
- Illness Assist - provides you with a lump sum benefit of up to $10,000 if you are diagnosed with any of these four conditions
- Non-invasive Breast Cancer
- Non- invasive Skin Cancer
- Early Prostate Cancer
- HIV Tumors
