The Importance of Critical Illness Insurance

Have you ever thought about how your life would change if you were diagnosed with a life threatening illness? What if you were diagnosed with Cancer today, or had a heart attack tonight? Or had a stroke at work today? Where would the money come from to receive treatment? Who would take care of your kids? Tend to your household / family activities? How would you supplement your income because you cannot work? How would you feel having to tap into your savings or your child’s school funds to pay for the bills and pay for your treatment? When someone is diagnosed or faces such a tragic illness, they often go into survival mode and don’t think of these things but the reality is you need to. And, it’s better to plan ahead for this then to have the mentality of ”this won happen to me”. Because let’s face it the facts are scary….

From the Canadian Cancer Society

1 in every 2.5 women and 1 in every 2.2 men will have some form of cancer in their lifetime.
1 in 9 Canadian women will be stricken by breast cancer in her lifetime.
Canada has the second highest rate of breast cancer in the world.
1 in 11 men and 1 in 18 women will develop lung cancer.
Every 4 minutes a Canadian is diagnosed with cancer.
The number of new cancer cases will increase by 50% over the next 20 years.

From the Heart and Stroke Foundation

1 in 4 Canadians will contract some form of heart disease
75,000 Canadians suffer heart attack each year

Of every 100 people who have a stroke

15 die (15%)
10 recover completely (10%)
25 recover with a minor impairment or disability (25%)
40 are left with a moderate to severe impairment (40%)
10 are so severely disabled they require long-term care (10%)

Heart disease costs the Canadian economy approximately $19 billion every year in medical services, hospitalization expenses, loss of income and loss of productivity
1 in 2 heart attack victims is under age 65

Critical Illness Insurance attempts to fill the gap between life and disability insurance. While disability policies cover lost employment income due to an accident or illness, Critical Illness insurance policies pay a lump-sum tax-free benefit when you’re diagnosed with a serious, life-altering illness or condition, and survive a certain amount of days.

Conditions currently covered in Canada include:

Heart attack, stroke, cancer coronary artery bypass surgery, multiple sclerosis, kidney failure, paralysis, blindness, deafness, rheumatoid arthritis, benign brain tumour, loss of limbs, major organ transplant (or on waiting list), Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, motor neuron disease (a.k.a. ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), coma, loss of speech, severe burns, occupational HIV infection, late onset insulin dependent diabetes, aortic surgery, heart valve replacement, loss of independence.

As part of Northern Financial’s dedication to protecting Canadians, we keep our fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in the industry so we can ensure we’re providing the best coverage possible. If you have any questions about critical illness insurance in Canada, don’t hesitate to contact us.