Critical illness policy is designed to provide comprehensive coverage for life-threatening health conditions like cancer. It can be taken additional to your regular health insurance policy to seek financial protection in case of an unexpected, serious, and extended illness.
With medical inflation on the rise, having a critical illness insurance policy is necessary to safeguard against inflated hospitalisation charges. While taking care of your finances during health emergencies, the policy also offers tax benefits.
Bajaj Finance offers a comprehensive and cost-effective critical illness insurance plan that can be very helpful in case of an unlikely health emergency.
Here are the key features and benefits offered under critical illness insurance:
Critical illness policies offer coverage up to Rs. 50 lakh to help you to seek quality treatment. However, the coverage amount will depend on the policy you choose.
Use the policy cover for extensive medical treatment, expert medical advice, or to pay for the medicines.
Critical illness health insurance mainly covers up to 50 major critical illnesses. Some of these are coronary artery bypass surgery, stroke, kidney failure, major organ transplant, etc.
The premium paid for this insurance is tax-deductible under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. If a policyholder is below 60 years old, he/she can save up to Rs. 25,000 in taxes. Senior citizens over the age of 60 years can save up to Rs. 50,000 in taxes.
Settle your claims in a hassle-free manner without involving any third party.
This policy covers expenses which are not usually covered under regular health insurance policy.
A critical illness insurance policy offers coverage against life-threatening critical diseases like renal failure, heart attack, cancer, organ transplants, etc. Such policies offer one-time lump-sum coverage against the exorbitant cost associated with treating these diseases.
Since medical treatment costs are rising with each passing year, access to a comprehensive insurance policy is vital to meet medical and non-medical expenses.
A notable advantage of a critical illness policy is the availability of income tax benefits. Under the norms of the Income Tax Act, 1961, you can claim an income tax deduction as per prevailing tax laws of Section 80D ( for individuals below the age of 60 can avail the benefit up to Rs. 25,000 on insurance premium paid for self, spouse, and children.). Additionally, senior citizens can claim a deduction of up to Rs. 50,000 as income tax deductions for individuals more than the age of 60 years.
*Tax benefit is subject to changes in tax laws
Parameters | Details |
---|---|
Sum Insured | Minimum Coverage up to Rs. 50 lakh or above |
Waiting Period | Minimum of 30 days from policy start date or a maximum of 2 years |
Survival Period | As specified in the policy documents |
Number of Diseases Covered | Up to 50 or more notable critical illness depending on the policy |
Age of Renewability | Usually, the maximum age or lifetime renewability |
Parameters | Critical illness insurance plan | Health insurance plan |
---|---|---|
Meaning | It offers coverage against life-threatening diseases. | It offers comprehensive health insurance coverage that includes hospitalisation expenses. |
Benefits | Hospitalisation is not imperative to receive policy coverage, diagnosis is enough. | The policy coverage is only available after submitting hospitalisation bills. One can also get cashless benefits at network hospitals. |
Coverage | It provides coverage against up to 50 diseases. | It offers comprehensive coverage, including pre and post hospitalisation expenses. |
Waiting period | The waiting period depends on the severity of an illness. | It comes with a standard waiting period of 30 days. |
Following is a table of comparison between different critical illness plans –
Insurance plan | Age | Sum Insured | Policy term |
---|---|---|---|
ManipalCigna ProHealth Insurance Policy - (Super Top Up Scheme) | 18 – 56 + years | Rs. 15 lakh, Rs. 21 and Rs. 30 lakh | 1 year |
Niva Bupa Health Companion | 18 - 60 years | Rs. 5 lakh | 1 year |
ManipalCigna Super Top Up | 18 - 91 years | Rs. 3 lakh to 30 lakh | 1/2/3 years |
Cashless claim
Cashless treatment is only available at a network hospital registered with Bajaj Allianz. To avail of the cashless treatment, the following procedure must be followed:
Planned hospitalisation
Here’s why critical illness insurance is important in India:
Enhanced coverage
The extensive coverage offered by critical illness insurance is one of the reasons why it is so important. It encompasses a wide variety of serious illnesses with varying degrees of severity. In addition, the sum insured under this policy can help you to manage the healthcare expenses other than the hospital bills.
Benefits of lump-sum
Critical illness insurance provides a lump-sum payment, which increases its value in managing healthcare costs. The lump-sum payment is made regardless of the hospitalization bills. This money can be used for post-hospitalization medication, transportation, lodging, at-home therapy, and other costs.
Access to quality healthcare
Critical illness insurance plans are crucial in the fight against critical illnesses. Due to lack of funding, many people suffering from a serious illness are unable to receive care. The policy enables access to quality healthcare. Hence, patients can get the correct treatment with critical illness insurance coverage, increasing their chances of survival.
While your primary health insurance will take care of the routine illness and standard hospital procedures, the critical illness plan will cover any unforeseen critical illness or medical complications. Here are a few reasons for the need for a critical illness insurance plan.
A critical illness policy is a type of health insurance plan that covers your medical expenses if any critical illness mentioned in the policy is detected. It acts as an add-on policy to the regular Health Insurance.
If you or your family member are diagnosed with a severe illness, critical illness cover offers you financial security. The coverage includes a lump-sum payment that can be utilized for treatment and healthcare costs, recuperation aids, etc. Therefore, a critical illness insurance policy is necessary as an add-on to your primary Health Insurance to provide additional and extensive coverage.
Not only your health but even your finances suffer grievously during a critical illness. It can put you in a financial crisis. Therefore, it is crucial to invest in a good critical illness insurance policy. It covers diseases that may or may not be covered under other health insurances and the most worthwhile point is that the insured has full liberty to decide how to use critical illness cover.
Yes, critical illness insurance can be beneficial in covering the medical expenses incurred for the treatment of major diseases like cancer, heart diseases, among others. It covers the additional costs incurred for any critical illness treatment, which may or may not be included in your regular health insurance policy.
Here’s the list of some of the critical illnesses that are commonly covered under the policy:
· CancerPeople between the age group of 5 years to 65 years can apply for a critical illness insurance policy. A pre-policy medical check-up is required for individuals after the age of 45 years.
Yes, a critical illness can pay off your health mortgage if the policy coverage includes this facility.
Typically, critical illness health insurance providers complete the pay-out within 30 days of filing a claim. However, this timeline can vary from one insurance provider to the other.
The pay-out amount or percentage of a critical illness insurance plan will alter as per each policy.
Their is no exact amount for the coverage you should avail. Various factors like lifestyle, age, city of residence, income, etc., are considered.
A critical illness insurance policy provides financial coverage against acute diseases such as organ transplants, heart attack, renal failure, cancer, etc. This policy extends lumpsum coverage against substantial costs associated while treating these illnesses, and the policy is over and above the basic health insurance plan.
A critical illness policy could cover diseases like:
In the critical illness policy, any illnesses developed due to smoking, drug intake, alcohol, tobacco etc., will not be included. Besides, the policy does not include illnesses due to external or internal congenital disorders. Moreover, this policy does not cover pregnancy and child-birth-associated critical conditions.
In the critical health insurance policy, self-harm, adventure sports or war injuries are not included. Also, there will be no compensation if a person dies within 30 days of treatment.
Here is the list of 36 most common critical illnesses/health conditions usually covered under critical illness plans:
1. Kidney failure
2. Cancer
3. Heart attack
4. Stroke
5. Multiple sclerosis
6. Parkinson’s disease
7. Terminal illness
8. Coma
9. Encephalitis
10. Full-blown AIDS
11. Chronic lung disease
12. Poliomyelitis
13. Motor-neuron disease
14. Muscle dystrophy
15. Benign brain tumour
16. Chronic liver disease
17. Alzheimer’s disease
18. Aorta surgery with the help of laparotomy or thoracotomy
19. A major head trauma
20. Apallic syndrome
21. Bacterial meningitis
22. Permanent loss of speech
23. Paraplegia
24. Craniotomy or brain surgery
25. If the victim has contracted AIDS due to the blood transfusion when receiving infected blood
26. Chronic persistent bone marrow failure which leads to anaemia
27. Third-degree burns or major burns on the body covering at least 20% surface of the body
28. Permanent or total deafness
29. Major transplantation of an organ such as heart, kidney, lungs, liver or bone marrow
30. Heart valve replacement because of abnormalities or defects in the body
31. Permanent or total blindness
32. AIDS contracted by medical staff, where it is caused due to an injury or an exposure to the contaminated blood
33. Fulminant viral hepatitis is massive necrosis of the liver caused by a virus that may lead to a liver failure
34. Various other serious coronary heart diseases are caused due to the narrowing of the lumen of the three major arteries - the Circumflex, RCA, LAD
35. Primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
36. Medullary cystic disease
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