When it comes to your health, money should never be a limiting factor. Critical illness insurance can help you cover the high costs associated with medical conditions like cancer, heart disease and stroke.
Critical illness insurance, also called catastrophic illness insurance, is a type of coverage that works alongside your health insurance policy to help you afford the costs of a serious or life-changing illness or disease. While policies vary, most policies cover heart attack, stroke, coronary bypass, organ transplant and various cancers. You may also be able to get coverage for other conditions like kidney failure, paralysis and progressive diseases like cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
If you are diagnosed with a medical condition covered by your policy, you'll receive benefits as specified in your plan. These benefits are often paid out as a lump sum, but can also be paid out on a monthly or per-treatment basis. You are free to use your critical illness insurance benefit however you see fit, including to cover:
Medical expenses
Critical illness insurance can help you cover out-of-pocket costs for your medical treatments, including your deductible, out-of-network care, therapy and rehabilitation or other treatments your policy may not have covered.
Transportation expenses
If your condition requires you to travel—potentially across state lines—to receive treatment, critical illness insurance can help you cover travel costs. Likewise, your benefit could be used to make your home and vehicle more accessible.
Living expenses
Out of work while you receive treatment or recover? Your benefit can be used to cover general living expenses: groceries, utilities, childcare, mortgage payments and other financial obligations that you may have.
Have questions about critical illness insurance? We've got answers.
Both critical illness insurance and disability insurance can help you financially deal with a difficult medical situation. But, there are key differences in how they work.
The first difference is how you qualify for benefits. With critical illness insurance, you can receive this benefit regardless of whether or not you can work. With disability insurance, on the other hand, you will only receive the benefit if you become disabled and are unable to work.
The second difference lies in how you will receive the benefit. With critical illness insurance, you will typically receive it as a lump sum (though monthly or per-treatment payouts are also possible). Disability insurance, on the other hand, you'll receive monthly while you are unable to work.
No. Life insurance is designed to pay out a death benefit to your beneficiaries when you pass. Critical illness insurance is designed to pay you a benefit directly to help cover the costs associated with a major illness. With this in mind, critical illness insurance may be better described as a type of supplemental insurance to other policies that you may have like health insurance or disability insurance.
Which specific illnesses or conditions are covered will depend on your policy. Most critical illness insurance policies will (at a minimum) provide coverage for heart attack, stroke, coronary bypass, organ transplant and various cancers. Additional coverage may be available for other serious illnesses. Narrower policies covering just one or two serious conditions (for example, cancer insurance) also exist.
It's important to note that your policy won't cover pre-existing medical conditions diagnosed before coverage began.
Northwestern Mutual does not offer critical illness insurance. But we do offer disability insurance, which can help you replace your income in the event you become seriously injured or ill and cannot work. An optional benefit called the Catastrophic Disability Benefit (CAT) can provide additional coverage if you experience a more severe disability that prevents you from performing activities of daily life.
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