Know about the survival period in a critical illness health cover

The purpose of health insurance is to provide you with medical and financial security. Sometimes it’s helpful to cover for unprecedented events like accidents, while other times it is essential to help the insured in case of some pre-existing or long-term health issues. In the latter scenario, you have an opportunity to go beyond a basic health insurance plan and get a critical illness health insurance policy.

What is a critical illness cover?

A critical illness cover provides protection against life-threatening or chronic health conditions like cancer, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, disability, etc. This cover provides protection to the insured in case they are suffering from any critical conditions while they are an active policyholder. Critical conditions can be physically, mentally, and financially hard to deal with.

These diseases need long-term medical attention, comprising of tests, diagnosis, medicines, hospitalization, etc. So, if you run out of funds during treatment, your insurer will provide you with a lump-sum increase to your total coverage to cover the additional medical expenses for treating critical illnesses.

What is the survival period in critical health cover?

The survival period in a critical health insurance plan is the amount of time that the insured must wait after their critical disease has been diagnosed. Hence, right after the diagnosis of your critical illness, you will have to wait a certain period of time to claim the increased sum on your total coverage. Depending on the plan, the survival period can range from 14 to 30 days.

If you are able to survive that period, you can use the extra funds for your treatment. You have the freedom to use those funds as per your preferences. It could be to cover daily allowance, medicine, hospitalization, traveling, or anything else. However, before you buy your insurance plan with critical illness cover, you must check which critical diseases are covered by the insurer because not all of them are included in the policy.

What if the insurer dies due to a critical illness?

The critical health insurance cover does not provide any death benefit to the family in case the insurer dies. However, you can confirm this with your insurer before purchasing your policy. In the case of critical illness health insurance, some insurers offer a certain amount to the family of the deceased. However, that amount is not being assigned immediately. It has a waiting period for the same.

Can you get a return of premiums in case of the demise of the insurer?

This is subjective and differs from one insurer to another. In the case of the death of the insurer, some health insurance companies offer the return of the premium to the nominee in the policy. But if the insurer dies due to any critical illness that is not covered by the health insurance policy, then there will be no compensation for the same.

A few things to know about the survival period in critical illness cover

1. The survival period is not the same as the waiting period. The former is in the case of any critical illness only. However, the waiting period is mandatory right after you buy your insurance policy.

2. The waiting period is applicable to pre-existing diseases, whereas the survival period is applicable to critical illnesses.

3. If you do not have critical illness health insurance, you can avoid the survival period. However, you cannot avoid the waiting period under any circumstances. You can reduce it by paying a higher premium or buying an add-on cover.

4. The survival period is shorter than the waiting period.

The inclusions and exclusions of critical illness cover can differ from one insurer to another. So it is best to buy a health insurance plan onlinebecause you can compare insurance policies and find one that meets your needs. The critical illness plan can be very helpful for anyone with low financial capacity or severe illnesses. It can be of immense assistance in time of need.