Cancer- Need To Plan For It

Cancer can strike anyone, anytime. In 2016, 3.9 million cancer cases have been reported in India and the number is increasing rapidly. Recently a very popular and talented face of Bollywood, Sonali Bendre was diagnosed with high-grade cancer. She has been battling cancer in New York. This scary phase of her life is not only tragic and shocking for her admirers but her professional and personal life is been affected drastically.
Hopefully, with the strong support from her family and friends and by the virtue of best cancer treatment in the world, she will regain her health and fitness in the near future.
But not everyone has the luxury to go overseas for the cancer treatment. The cost incurred in treatment, in the absence of an affordable and accessible treatment, put a severe financial strain on the family. Cancer is a highly stigmatized critical illness, not only for the patient but also for the caregivers and family.
If you are the breadwinner, then for your family’s sake, it’s time to start thinking about insurance policy as a protection plan which can help your family after you’re gone. Can you imagine the havoc your family will have to deal with? It would be a tragic scenario and financial crisis due to hefty medical treatment costs. It becomes very important to have critical illness insurance since the risk of cancer is alarming.
Following are the advantages offered under Critical illness insurance:
Lump Sum Amount: Critical illness insurance provides a lump sum amount to the insured at the time of detection of critical illness. Insured is free to use the lump sum amount without updating the insurer about the spending i.e. how the insured amount is being used.
Covers out-of-pocket expenses: Expenses such as loss of wages, home nurses, and medical equipment are compensated. Critical illness covers the cost of travelling for medical treatments as well.
Tax-free sum insured: The lump sum amount received by the insurer at the time of diagnosis is a tax-free amount. You can utilize the full amount for treatment or as an income replacement.
Read: 5 Most Common Questions On Critical Illness Answered
Wider coverage: You can get coverage up to 30 critical diseases such as cancer, coronary artery bypass, strokes, heart attacks, paralysis blindness, heart valve replacement, major organ transplant, coma, major burns, kidney failure etc.
Low-Cost premium: The premium cost of critical illness cover is very low. Age is the main factor for calculating the premium. It is a cost-effective move to buy critical illness cover at a young age as the premium amount is minimal.
Following are the indicative premium rates for a sum insured of 3 lakhs :
Age Less than 20 diseases (Premium rates) More than 20 diseases (Premium rates)

Critical illness insurance is a must-have insurance cover in order to deal with medical contingencies. It helps to protect yourself, your family and your budget from the impact of a critical illness.