How Does Critical Illness Insurance Work?
Supplemental critical illness insurance works much differently than a traditional health insurance policy.
Your regular health insurance plan covers the costs of your health care to your health care providers. If you’re diagnosed with a critical illness, you can also file a claim with your critical illness insurance company. Your critical illness insurance company provides a lump sum payout up to your policy’s coverage limit to you!
Critical illness insurance can help offset health care costs or you can use it for whatever reason you need. You could use the money to pay your health insurance deductible or copayments, or you could even put the money toward mortgage payments, groceries or childcare.
Because critical illness insurance offers coverage for a wide range of conditions, it can also be beneficial for people who don’t have an emergency fund or are concerned about the financial consequences of an unexpected medical diagnosis.
What Does Critical Illness Insurance Cover?
Critical illness insurance coverage varies by the policy. But generally, here are what a critical illness insurance policy will cover:
Cancer Heart Attack Stroke
End Stage Renal Failure Major Organ Transplant OTHER
Make sure to read the fine print and understand exactly what the specific critical illness insurance policy covers before buying coverage.
How Much Does Critical Illness Insurance Cost?
Here’s a look at examples of critical illness insurance quotes from insurance companies. These costs are for individual coverage, not group coverage sold on true group pricing, but directly to individuals within a group, so keep that in mind when comparing quotes. If you are a tobacco user, rates do increase.
SMALL SAMPLE OF CRITICAL ILLNESS RATES FEMALE /MALE NON-TOBACCO
| AGE | 10,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 |
| 20 | 5.87/6.30 | 9.37/11.50 | 13.75/18.00 |
| 25 | 5.87/6.30 | 9.37/11.50 | 13.75/18.00 |
| 35 | 6.87/8.16 | 14.37/20.79 | 23.75/36.58 |
| 45 | 10.94/14.23 | 28.31/44.76 | 50.01/82.93 |
Your premium is largely dependent on the coverage amount. Here are some additional criteria that insurance companies consider if you apply for an individual critical illness insurance plan:
- Overall health
- Age
- Gender
- Nicotine use
- Location
Advantages of Critical Illness Insurance
- Provides financial protection
- Benefits can be used for anything
- Affordable premiums
- Lock in prices at your current age
Drawbacks of Critical Illness Insurance
- Doesn’t cover pre-existing conditions.
- Premiums increase with age – so buy young and lock in price.
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What Is Dental Insurance?
Dental Insurance provides coverage to help protect you financially from the high costs of dental care. Policies are separate from your primary health insurance, though some health insurers provide dental insurance plans.
Dental insurance may be offered to you as an employment benefit, or you can buy a plan from a dental insurance company.
How Does Dental Insurance Work?
Most dental insurance plans work like this:
- You pay a monthly premium.
- You may face waiting periods for some types of care, but preventive care (such as cleanings) often doesn’t have a waiting period.
- You may need a primary dentist in the insurance provider’s network.
- There may be an out-of-pocket deductible to meet before your plan covers a percentage of the out-of-pocket costs for care.
- Most plans have an annual maximum allowance.
- Your plan may require a copay for dentist visits.
- Most preventive care is covered 100% by the dental plan—this includes an annual exam, cleaning and X-rays.
What Does Dental Insurance Cover?
Dental insurance policies typically cover preventive services at 100%, but what they cover varies by plan. Some policies cover a percentage of the cost of basic services, while others cover some of the cost of both basic and major services.
Routine and preventive services
- Generally covered at 100% of the costs
- Cleanings and check-ups every six months
- Annual X-rays
Basic services
- Coverage percentage varies, but often 80% of the costs
- Fillings
- Simple extractions
Major services
- Coverage percentage varies, but often 50% of the costs
- Root canals
- Bridges
- Crowns
- Dentures
- Implants
What Dental Insurance Does NOT Cover?
Dental insurance generally doesn’t cover services like:
- Cosmetic dentistry that’s not medically necessary
- Bonding
- Non-essential veneer placement
- Missing teeth prior to insurance
Dental insurance may not cover the services below. Make sure to read the fine print if you’re interested in this dental work because there might be lifetime maximum benefits or waiting periods to get the services even if they’re covered:
- Teeth whitening
- Orthodontics or Braces – mostly for adults
- Fluoride Treatment for Adults
If your policy provides coverage for one or more of these services, it may be at a smaller percentage.
WHY CANCER SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE?
Cancer insurance is becoming more and more common because many basic health insurance plans do NOT cover all the costs tied to a cancer diagnosis.
The money from a cancer insurance policy can be used to cover out-of-pocket costs under the major medical plan, as well as other expenses that arise during cancer treatment, like lost wages and the cost of traveling to treatment facilities.
Ultimately, it is your choice what you pay with the money you receive from having a cancer policy in place at time of need.
WHO NEEDS A CANCER INSURANCE POLICY?
- You
- Me
- Your neighbor
- Anyone who has not been diagnosed with Cancer OVER 5 YEARS.
WHO DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR CANCER INSURANCE?
- Anyone currently being treated for Cancer.
- Anyone diagnosed with cancer in the last 5 years.
What you need to know:
Do not assume all cancer insurance plans offer the same benefits or coverage, because this is not the case.
There are different levels of cancer policies within each carrier’s options. Make sure the level you purchase is the level you truly want. All levels cover some amount of cancer treatments, but the higher the level, the more the payout, and of course higher premiums as well.
REMEMBER: There is usually an age cut-off for the purchase of a cancer policy. The older you are, the more expensive it can be. Some insurers stop selling to age 65 and others stop selling to 75-year-olds. Once you buy at your age, you will always have the policy as long as it is paid.
More times than not, people who have a chance to buy a cancer policy will delay until they are no longer eligible. Please don’t let that be you!