Many people may be unaware critical illness insurance exists. Unfortunately, a catastrophic medical event can make recovery difficult if you are worried about making the rent or mortgage. If you currently have a life insurance policy or are in the process of purchasing one, adding critical illness insurance can offer you additional protection if you suffered a major illness.

Determine Your Family History

Many people will face a significant medical event in their lives. Critical illness insurance can offer you protection if you are affected by a medical condition that is covered by your insurance. Although these illnesses will vary by policy, they often include illnesses such as cancer or stroke. Since there is no way of knowing whether critical illness insurance will benefit you, there are some factors you should consider to help you make a decision.

Your family history can be an important factor. Some people have a strong family history of certain conditions, such as heart disease, that increases their personal risk of having a heart attack. Another family history factor you should consider is the early onset of such diseases. Often the early onset of heart disease or cancer can indicate a much higher risk of developing the condition yourself. Therefore, having a family history of critical illnesses may persuade you to purchase critical illness insurance in addition to life insurance. For a strong family history, it may be worth considering coverage much earlier in your life.

Think About Financial Impacts Of Illness

Critical illness insurance is designed to pay out benefits, typically once a certain period of time has elapsed after diagnosis. These benefits can be critical to help maintain your medical care and basic needs after a significant health crisis. In many cases, these illnesses can be disabling throughout treatment or permanently. Your insurance benefits can help offset out-of-pocket medical expenses and/or help sustain you and your family while you are out of work. Another important use of critical illness insurance benefits is being able to "float" necessary expenses while applying for disability and/or other government programs for the disabled or low income people. Often times these programs have lengthy waitlists, and when applying for disability, it may take years and several appeals to be approved.

If you decide to purchase critical illness insurance, you need to determine the appropriate level of coverage and your budget. To determine your coverage level, you should estimate how much you would need to sustain your basic living expenses for at least a year or two. This may be enough time to recover from your illness and return to work or go through the disability approval process. Since benefits are typically paid out as a lump-sum payment, it is best to deposit your benefits into an interest-bearing account to help stretch your money.

Weigh The Disadvantages

There are disadvantages to purchasing critical illness insurance. Many illnesses that cause significant limitations are not always covered by the insurance. This means you may spend a considerable amount of money over many years toward benefits you cannot claim. Similarly, your beneficiary may not recover any money from your insurance plan if you experience a serious medical condition covered by the plan, but it is fatal. Another potential disadvantage is you may be diagnosed with a serious illness after you purchased your insurance plan but before the required time has elapsed to claim benefits. For example, some insurance companies may not pay out benefits if you are diagnosed with a terminal condition within a few months after purchasing a policy.

Critical illness insurance can be an excellent addition to your current life insurance plan. Having a safety net if a serious illness strikes can give you peace of mind and aid in your recovery. Talk to an insurance agent for additional info.