Critical illness insurance provides cash benefits for major health conditions. Wanan Wanan/Shutterstock
If you have a critical illness, you might have to cover out-of-pocket costs. But fortunately, a critical illness insurance policy can help. A critical illness insurance policy is purchased as a supplement to your life insurance.
It’s broader than traditional health insurance and pays out-of-pocket costs that go beyond medical bills. But what exactly is a critical illness policy, how much is it, and how does it work?
Critical Illness Insurance Policies
According to HealthInsurance.org, critical illness insurance is a type of supplemental policy. It pays cash benefits to a policyholder if they’re diagnosed with a covered medical condition. UnitedHealthcare states that some critical illness conditions that policies cover expenses for include:
- heart attack
- stroke
- organ failure/transplant
- advanced Alzheimer’s disease
- renal failure
- internal cancers
- coma
- loss of hearing, speech, or vision
Critical illness insurance doesn’t cover things such as self-inflicted injury, drug or alcohol abuse, illegal activities, or acts of war.
