Critical Illness Insurance – Critical Illness Plans, Coverage & Quotes
Dealing with a critical illness is difficult enough in itself, and financial hardship only makes it worse. As an employer, protecting the well-being of your employees is essential. Critical illness insurance is available to help you and your employees through tough times. The standard business health insurance policy only covers the medical costs directly associated with illness, such as hospitalizations. Unlike critical illness insurance, it doesn’t account for other expenses that may result. Critical illness insurance plans provide your workforce with an added measure of security.
How does a critical illness insurance policy work? It pays out a lump sum if a covered person develop a severe illness covered in the contract. Critical illnesses included vary among critical illness insurance plans, but they normally apply to relatively rare and unexpected conditions that aren’t a direct result of their actions (i.e. injury that is self-inflicted or that occurred in the course of your illegal activity, or suicide). Typical conditions that the average critical illness insurance will cover include most types of cancer, heart attack, stroke, most organ transplants, and deafness or blindness. Sometimes certain subcategories of conditions aren’t covered by most critical illness insurance companies; read contracts carefully before selecting this type of small business health insurance. For example, many critical illness insurance plans do not cover most forms of skin cancer. Critical illness insurance group health insurance rates will most likely be higher for more comprehensive coverage.
There are no strings attached to the money paid out by critical illness health insurance. Critical illness insurance policies are meant to reduce stress and allow an employee to focus on recovering from their illness, allowing them to return to work sooner. The lump sum they receive can be used to keep up with mortgage or rent payments, utility bills, or other loan payments if while they are unable to work. Advances in medical technology have made health care far more expensive than it used to be, but critical illness insurance allows an employee to pay for that. Even if group health insurance covers most of the medical costs, he or she may be left with large co-payments and deductibles for things such as prescriptions and treatments.
Restrictions apply to critical illness insurance; therefore, it is important for an employer buying this type of insurance for its employees to look over a policy carefully. Most likely, a company will not be able to buy critical illness insurance for employees who have already developed an eligible condition. Critical illness insurance companies make money by taking the risk that the majority of policyholders will remain healthy and continue paying premiums, while only having to pay out lump sums in a small percentage of cases. In addition, most critical illness insurance companies will not sell policies for employees older than 65.
Also remember that there is usually a waiting period that must pass prior to your employees’ critical illness insurance coverage taking effect. They will also have to wait for a certain length of time in order to receive the lump sum after diagnosis. Although it depends on the specific critical illness insurance plan, many will not pay any money if the person dies less than 30 days after being diagnosed with an eligible condition. There are separate riders you can purchase and offer for an additional fee which promise to cover their estate and beneficiaries in the case of death.
Critical illness health insurance is typically sold in amounts ranging from $10,000 up to $1 million. The value chosen should cover at least a year of your employees’ average salary, along with an allowance for mortgage payments and credit card debt. Since critical illness insurance quotes are cheaper for younger individuals, it may be a good idea to buy such a policy at a relatively young age if you have employees at high risk for developing an eligible disease and have others to support. Coverage is usually available for periods of up to 25 years, with a minimum length of two years. Critical illness insurance can be acquired by itself or as a supplement to a business health insurance or life insurance plan. The cost of a group critical illness insurance policy depends on the age and health status of your workforce. Critical illness insurance quotes will vary more if you are a small business, since there are fewer people available to shoulder the underwriting cost.
Are you considering a critical illness insurance policy for your business? VitalOne has licensed insurance agents available to compare coverage and quotes from several critical illness insurance providers.
