In many countries health insurance has a companion that is almost always purchased alongside the coverage. No, I’m not talking about dental insurance, I’m referring to critical illness coverage. What is critical illness insurance and why do you need it? We all know we need health insurance, we have seen the devastating financial situations that not having health insurance can do to you, your friends or your family. What about you though, who is taking care of you and your family when a major medical issue or accident strikes? It’s a good thing to have your medical bills paid, but what about the every day things like putting food on the table or paying the mortgage or rent? What protection do you have? Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get the coverage that you need, let me explain. Health Insurance is Flawed You need to have insurance to pay your medical bills, that’s a given. However, as an insurance agent one of the things that I point out to virtually anyone that I sit down with, is that health insurance, no matter who the company is, is flawed. It only does certain things. It typically helps with wellness, and doctors visits, and prescriptions and if something big happens like having surgery or going into the hospital. What that insurance plan does, is it makes sure that the doctors and the hospital get their portion of what that plan pays. The problem is, you are still left with huge gaps.
Things that if something serious happened to you could still leave you with devastating out of pocket expense. I also believe that most people know most bankruptcies in America are due to medical bills. The scary thing about that statistic is that of all the bankruptcies that happen due to medical bills, 78% of those people actually had health insurance in place. That is ludicrous to me. The whole reason that I get health insurance is so that I’ll never be in that place. However, most people that have health insurance end up in that same very place. You need to consider other options.
Supplement Your Coverage
Yes, you do need health insurance, but who takes care of you? You need to look to other options when considering these things. Look at getting a supplement to pay you while you are out of work. They are inexpensive and they could save your home and family from an unfortunate situation. A supplement will pay you either for an event that occurs, such as a critical illness or accident or you can choose a disability supplement that will pay you if you are out of work because of a illness or accident. Look to a local agent like me, or look online. There are many sources online to help you navigate the options available to you. Either way you will be very happy you did if you are ever in a situation that you need it.
History of Critical Illness Insurance
Dr. Marius Barnard was a heart surgeon. He was part of the team that performed the first human-to-human heart transplant in South Africa in 1967. Dr. Barnard often commented that while his patients were living longer lives they were financially ruined. These are people that after undergoing life saving surgery were often unable to work for a long time if ever. Because of the financial strain his patients were under Dr. Barnard designed and marketed the first critical illness polices. So in addition to performing some of the first human to human heart transplants he was also the person credited for inventing critical illness insurance.
Bankruptcy
I think most people are aware that most bankruptcies are due to medical issues, close to 60 percent. What’s surprising is that of all the people that file chapter 7 or 10 due to medical issues in the last 10 years, almost 80 percent (78%) had health insurance. Thats crazy, the reason most people get health insurance is to avoid that very situation and yet it’s still happening. Health illness insurance is designed to pay the doctor and hospital and while it’s good to pay the doctors and hospitals many times it’s the everyday bills that we get behind on when we’re ill. The hospitals will typically work with you on payments, unfortunately utility companies and grocery stores don’t. That’s why critical illness policies pay cash to their beneficiaries. The cash can be used to pay the everyday bills, things that when you’re sick and unable to work we usually get behind on.
Real Life Example
I’m living proof of how illness insurance and accident supplemental polices can help you in a time of need. About 9 years ago I was in an accident in downtown Indianapolis. At the time I had a high deductible health plan (10k) and a very inexpensive ($4.80 a month) accident policy. I was in the hospital for 5 days due to that accident and out of work for 6 weeks. At the time the accident occurred my savings account was a little on the light end. Had I not had that accident policy I’m sure I would have drained by savings and likely would have still been late on my mortgage. That one little five dollar supplement to my health insurance is what kept me from probably getting very close to filing bankruptcy. You don’t have to have an expensive comprehensive supplemental package. A 35 year old male can purchase $20,000 in accident and critical illness coverage for under $25 a month.
Don’t Wait
You can’t wait until you have a health issue to purchase this coverage illness insurance. In my experience customers that ask me to hold off on purchasing this coverage don’t reach back out to me until they have a situation that they need covered. Unfortunately at that point, it’s too late. There’s not an insurance company out there that will allow you to signup for somthing that they already know you will be filling a claim on immediately, it just doesn’t work that way. Contact us to get covered at an affordable rate that doesn’t break the bank and stay covered. You’ll be happy that you did when it comes time to use the coverage.
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