Types Of Cancer Covers Offered By Life Insurance Firms

• Reduce taxable income by up to Rs. 1,50,000 deduction under section 80C**
• Convenient payment options - annual, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly premium payments
• Do more with plans that offer pure protection, retirement planning and investment options

Without a doubt, cancer is the most dreadful disease that one can encounter, and it requires immediate medical attention. In addition to the physical toil, cancer is also likely to cause a major strain on one’s finances. Insurance companies offer various protection plans for individuals to protect themselves from the potential threat of cancer. While it is true that most life insurance policies do not provide any coverage for cancer patients, it is not entirely impossible to get life insurance even after cancer. Let’s discuss the different types of insurance products available in the market for cancer coverage.

Popular cancer protection plans offered by life insurance

To be clear, these plans do not apply for people who already have cancer. Cancer care covers are similar to critical illness covers. These policies can be bought along with a regular term insurance plan or an endowment plan. Here, lump sum benefits are paid to the insured upon the first diagnosis of cancer. Since most life insurers do not have any specialized plans for cancer patients, it is better to take this policy beforehand and get protection from the financial strain associated with cancer. Cancer protection covers are ideal for people with a family history of cancer. Some of the popular plans market are as follows:

• ICICI Prudential Heart/Cancer Protect: This is a dual protection cover that can be used to protect oneself against the risk of cardiovascular diseases as well as cancer. This policy offered by life insurer ICICI Prudential offers lump sum benefit against the first instance of a heart attack as well as the first diagnosis of cancer. A cancer-specific variant of this cover is also available at a very minimal cost. Upon payment of the lump sum benefit, this policy terminates automatically.
• HDFC Life Cancer Care: HDFC Life is one of the major life insurance service providers in the country. The specific type and severity of cancer covered by this policy can be understood from the policy document. Similar to other cancer-specific policies, this cover pays lump sum benefits against the first diagnosis of cancer. The payment received from this cover can be used for anything ranging from medical expenses to day-to-day living expenses.
• Max Life Cancer Insurance Plan: This is one of the best cancer-specific covers available in the market at present. This policy can be taken till the age of 75 years, and it provides coverage against all stages of cancer. If cancer is deducted at an early stage, it pays about 20% of the sum insured amount instantly and the future premiums are waived off. In case of diagnosis at an advanced stage, this policy pays the full sum insured amount along with a yearly income benefit of 10% of the sum insured amount for the next 5 years.

Insurance for cancer survivors

Most of the insurance companies in the market do not provide any coverage for people who have survived cancer. In an industry-first initiative, Star Health and Allied Insurance provides coverage for people who have survived cancer. Customers can sign up for this policy by providing medical records of their cancer treatment. This is mainly to protect these survivors from the financial liabilities of recurrence, second cancer, and metastasis (spread of cancer). The policy named Star Cancer Care Gold comes with two different sum insured options of Rs.3 lakh and Rs.5 lakh. Upon diagnosis of any of the above mentioned eventualities, the policy pays half of the sum insured amount as lump sum payment. The remaining half can be used a mediclaim policy to get coverage against various medical procedures, including surgical and non-surgical treatments.

Conclusion

Cancer patients do not have that many options as far as life and health insurance policies are concerned. However, it is possible to protect oneself against the financial liabilities of cancer by purchasing any of the cancer-specific plans available in the market. In addition to the ones listed above, there are many other life and health insurers in the market who offer cancer-specific covers for their customers. These policies are extremely useful when it comes to protecting oneself against the risk of cancer. Star Cancer Care Gold for cancer survivors is likely to provide them a fighting chance against the risk of various additional threats. Though a wide variety of choices is not available, these specific plans are likely to come in handy against the risk of different types of cancer.