MEDICARE

Cancer/Stroke Plans

Cancer, heart attacks, and strokes are three of the most common causes of death in the world. In fact, half of all men and one third of all women develop cancer within their lifetimes. This is often in spite of their best efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle. With even otherwise healthy people being afflicted with these adverse health events, you can see why some people would rather have some kind of financial protection in case they do suffer a stroke or get diagnosed with cancer. Cancer and stroke insurance plans exist for exactly that purpose. They help people who have cancer or a stroke to recover financially. 

What Is Cancer and Stroke Insurance

The costs of an unexpected heart attack, stroke or cancer diagnosis can cripple you financially and leave your family in an unfortunate situation. To mitigate this risk, you can invest in cancer and stroke insurance. These plans provide you with a lump sum payment in exchange for monthly premiums paid into the policy. If you suffer one of the covered medical events, you will be given the benefit amount.

Cancer Insurance

If you don’t want to get coverage for cancer, stroke, and heart attacks or other conditions, you can opt to purchase a cancer insurance policy on its own. This can be essential for older individuals, as a lump sum cancer policy can provide them with financial relief in their time of need. With cancer insurance, all you need to do is pay monthly premiums and you can access a policy that offers up to $100,000 in benefits. Your benefits will be dispersed if you are diagnosed with a covered type of cancer.

Recurrence Coverage

As long as you are medically disabled, you can keep your Medicare coverage, even if you decide to go back to work. You will not have to pay for your Part A premium for the first 8.5 years but will then have to pay your premium. If you cannot afford your Part A premium, you can see if you qualify for a Medicare Savings Program. The Qualified Medicare Beneficiary program helps to pay for Part A and Part B premiums as well as cost-sharing expenses such as deductibles and copayments. The Qualified Disabled and Working Individuals (QDWI) Program helps to pay your Part A premium once you lose your premium-free Part A because you go back to work. There are qualifying monthly income limits and resource limits to qualify for the program.

Critical Illness Insurance

If you experience a critical health emergency, catastrophic illness insurance can help you sustain the damage such illnesses can cause to your finances. Critical illness insurance is a type of insurance that covers you if you experience one or more of a set list of common medical emergencies. Those medical emergencies include the following:

  • Strokes
  • Heart attacks 
  • Organ transplants
  • Cancer
  • Coronary bypass

As you can see, a critical illness plan is more comprehensive than a cancer and stroke/heart attack insurance policy, as it offers coverage for far more conditions. This can be highly beneficial, because each of these illnesses requires extensive health treatments to get under control. Without substantial wealth on hand, it may be difficult to afford to treat these deals successfully. With a critical illness plan ready, you can get the money you need to fight off the illness. 

High-deductible health insurance vs Critical illness insurance

Many people opt to enroll in high-deductible health insurance plans because they allow you to maintain coverage for very low premiums. Yet, if you have a high-deductible plan and become afflicted with an extreme illness, you may be unable to afford the deductible or copayments related to treatment. A critical illness insurance policy can provide you with the funds you need to pay those out-of-pocket costs that must be met to receive catastrophic care.

Benefits of Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness insurance can protect you from costs that would not be covered under traditional health insurance. Money granted to you by a critical illness insurance benefit can also be used for non-medical costs that relate to the illness, ensuring that many of your other financial needs are met. For example, the benefit payout can be used to pay for transportation and child care. This means you won’t have to hustle to find someone to care for your kids in your time of need.

Though, coverage limits do vary from plan to plan. Some plans may offer you access to a few thousand dollars of coverage, while others can pay up to $100,000. The amount of coverage you qualify for often depends on a range of different factors, such as your age, sex, and health status at the time of purchasing the policy.

Critical Illness Coverage Exceptions

Critical illness coverage has some of the same drawbacks as cancer insurance and cancer and stroke/heart attack insurance. Primarily, the disease you are diagnosed with may not be covered by your policy. Many critical illness insurance policies do not cover some types of cancer, so even if you are diagnosed, you may not receive the benefit payout. You also may be unable to receive a benefit payout if your cancer returns or you suffer another stroke or heart attack. This can be troublesome if it occurs without warning, so check with your plan provider to make sure your most concerning illnesses are covered.

Who Might Need Critical Illness Coverage

Critical illness insurance can come in handy in many different situations. Though, you shouldn’t purchase critical illness insurance or cancer and heart attack/stroke insurance if you feel you won’t need it in the long run. People who need this type of coverage are often people who may be unable to pay for critical medical services otherwise. They can also be beneficial to people who will need help paying for treatments that aren’t covered by their health insurance. While battling an illness, transportation may be necessary as well. People who do not have friends or family able to help them get to and from the hospital will also be better off with critical illness coverage. Finally, we feel that people who are terminally ill can have a better end of life experience if they invested in critical illness coverage. Rather than stressing out over health care expenses, they can enjoy their final moments with their loved ones.

Critical Illness Coverage Costs

With so many benefits, it may be surprising to find out that critical illness insurance policies can be very cheap. Smaller plans may be as low as $25 a month. Others may be higher, ranging up to $100 a month.

If you have any additional questions related to Medicare, our team of Colorado Medicare experts is happy to help you. Contact us at 970-233-0063 today.

970-233-0063