This product is underwritten by Medico® Insurance Company, a Wellabe company.
Medical bills are an issue for many people, with cancer and heart disease among the leading causes of these expenses. And surprisingly, more than 60% of those with medical debt have health insurance. This leaves adults of all ages seeking supplemental policies to fill coverage gaps. Critical Illness insurance can be a solution.
Whether you’re hearing of this coverage for the first time or planning your insurance for retirement, get answers to the top questions on Critical Illness insurance so you can build coverage that helps you be well protected.
“Critical illness insurance” is the most common name for this type of insurance. However, you may also hear it called “specified disease insurance,” as well as “heart attack insurance,” “stroke insurance,” or “cancer insurance.” These are the conditions for which critical illness insurance typically provides coverage.
Your coverage for a heart attack will depend on your specific health insurance, whether provided through your employer or acquired on your own. Either way, it’s important to know what benefits you have, especially if you are a woman over 50 years old or a man aged 45 or up. These groups face a higher risk for heart disease.
While the financial impact of a heart attack would depend on its severity, knowing your coverage may help you plan for such an emergency. For example, Original Medicare plan subscribers will have benefits for cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack. But to receive these benefits, you must first meet your Part B deductible. Then, you will pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount plus any applicable copay. Should you need surgery, your expenses will depend on whether you have an inpatient or outpatient procedure. You may consider Critical Illness insurance to help pay out-of-pocket costs.
Like with a heart attack, your coverage for a stroke will depend on your specific insurance plan. You’ll want to know if your provider offers benefits for stroke rehabilitation services, including how much and how many days they will pay. Other vital information includes your benefits, if any, for physical therapy, medical equipment, and home health. This is because most stroke patients have problems walking or getting around, among other issues.
Between the various needs for immediate and future care, the American Stroke Association estimates the lifetime cost of a stroke to be over $140,000. Critical Illness insurance can provide funds to help fill the gaps in coverage.
Critical Illness insurance provides coverage in certain health events, such as a heart attack, stroke, and/or cancer. In the event of a diagnosis, the base Critical Illness benefit would pay a lump sum amount of the policyholder’s choosing, as low as $5,000 or even up to $100,000 for Wellabe’s Critical Illness plan.1 These funds can be used however you see fit, whether to pay for medical bills, costs of living, travel expenses, or home health, for example.
You may wish to consider Critical Illness policies that offer coverage for your spouse or children in the event of their diagnoses. Some plans — including Wellabe’s — deliver extra benefits, such as cardiac surgical needs or an early or in situ cancer diagnosis, as well as optional riders for treatments or other illnesses.
Because Critical Illness insurance benefits are paid in one lump sum following a cancer diagnosis, you can use the funds in the ways you need, such as for cancer treatments. If you have further concerns about the cost of your care or want to be able to use Critical Illness benefits for other expenses, then you may choose to add an optional rider for radiation and chemotherapy.2 This would give you an additional lump sum of your choice.
Critical Illness insurance1 helps secure your finances and can provide peace of mind when you need it most since you:
Between the above-mentioned risks of heart attacks and strokes and the fact that more than 2 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2025, there are no real disadvantages to having this protection. Still, some may want to take additional precautions.
For example, not all cancer insurance plans will provide coverage for stage 0 (carcinoma in situ) diagnosis or skin cancer that isn’t malignant melanoma since these are easier to cure than others. That makes it wise to look for a policy that provides some payout for an early cancer diagnosis or offers an optional rider for skin cancer to help offset any costs.
The cost of your Critical Illness insurance plan will depend on your specific policy.
A good plan will offer you the flexibility to customize a policy that best meets your needs and budget.
While your medical insurance should pay a good amount for your treatment, it won’t cover it all. Critical Illness insurance can help you in a time when you’re most vulnerable — after diagnosis of a devastating disease. It can help supplement your income or protect your assets and secure your ability to take care of yourself or your family.
To learn how Wellabe’s Critical Illness insurance can help fill your coverage gaps:
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