Critical Iillness
Critical Illness Insurance: A Living Health Benefit for Canadians
Critical Illness
Insurance
Be prepared, just in case.
While we always hope that we will stay healthy, statistics tell us otherwise. Critical illness insurance enables you, or someone you care about, to ensure that even in the case of illness, you can be financially secure. When is the best time to get critical illness? Sooner than later. We can help you understand what your options are, and how to make sure your specific needs are addressed.
What is critical illness insurance?
Critical illness is a type of living health benefit. It’s insurance the pays out in a lump sum if the insured person is diagnosed with, or experiences one of the covered health conditions: cancer, heart attacks and strokes are the most common claims. Around 25 conditions are covered with most adult contracts, even more for the kids.
How Much Does Critical Illness Cost?
Insurance costs are based on the risk assessed for a persons age, gender and tobacco use. The costs listed below are estimated based on a standard health rating.
Critical illness insurance is available for different lengths (e.g. Term 10, Term 20), benefit amounts (e.g. $25,000 and up) and coverage type (e.g. the number of health conditions included). This means that you can tailor your coverage to meet your family’s needs and budget. Here are some examples:
If you are…
30
 |
 |
 |
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30 year old female (non-smoker):$8.39/month (Term 10, $25k protection) $14.18/month (Term 10, $50k) |
30 year old male (non-smoker):$8.66/month (Term 10, $25,000 protection) $14.22/month (Term 10, $50k) |
40
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40 year old female (non-smoker):$12.85/month (Term 10, $25k protection) $23.89/month (Term 10, $50k) $38.07/month (Term 10, $100k |
40 year old male (non-smoker):$12.55/month (Term 10, $25,000 protection) $21.87/month (Term 10, $50k) $33.48/month (Term 10, $100k) |
40 year old female (smoker):$19.73/month (Term 10, $25k protection) $34.97/month (Term 10, $50k) $62.19/month (Term 10, $100k) |
40 year old male (smoker):$20.43/month (Term 10, $25,000 protection) $34.02/month (Term 10, $50k) $55.89/month (Term 10, $100k) |
50
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50 year old female (non-smoker):$22.91/month (Term 10, $25k protection) $41.31/month (Term 10, $50k) $69.66/month (Term 10, $100k) |
50 year old male (non-smoker):$26.46/month (Term 10, $25,000 protection) $42.39/month (Term 10, $50k) $74.07/month (Term 10, $100k) |
How Much Critical Illness Do I Need?
We recommend considering your preferences and values in addition to financial calculations for determining how much protection you want in place. What do we mean? Well, if you or your partner experienced a heart attack or stroke, or were diagnosed with cancer, what would be the most important thing to you? It might not be a specific bill or dollar amount – rather, flexibility to pursue what is important to you, such as family time or access to treatments. Would you want to be able to take time away from work and ensure your living expenses are covered? Would you want to be able to ensure you can afford to best possible treatment? It’s a hard topic, but worth a conversation with your partner about.
For ideas of costs to consider, you can also take a look at our Needs Analysis tool for expense considerations:
Should I Get Critical Illness Insurance For My Children?
Short answer: Yes.
Why? The cost is MUCH lower than adults because their young age and low health risks. It’s the kind of thing we hope you would never need to make a claim for. But if you did, it would make a WORLD of difference if you needed to take time off work to be with your child, travel for treatment at a children’s hospital; stay in a hotel, etc. In our opinion (as parents that have policies for our own kids), the trade off for the peace of mind is worth it.
“Because it’s one thing for me to get sick, but it would be another world entirely if one of my kids were sick. It would affect my ability to work because I would want to take time off to be with them.”