Cancer Insurance is a special kind of insurance that is designed to protect the policyholder from bearing the high costs associated with cancer. Cancer insurance helps secure your financial situation and bears the costs related to getting quality treatment for cancer, offering financial protection. A cancer insurance policy offers coverage against all cancer stages along with the dual benefit of a lump-sum payment in addition to income on the diagnosis of a major stage. A cancer insurance policy offers various benefits such as covering expenses associated with hospitalization, chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, etc.
Cancer is not just a disease, it is a different story of pain, distress, emotional breakdown, survival risk, and whatnot. Cancer not only affects the patient but the entire family and those connected closely. And unfortunately, this disease is on the spike all around the globe. Talking specifically about India, cancer cases are expected to increase by 12% by 2025 as suggested in a report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Bengaluru-based National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research.
Cancer is not limited to a person, gender, geography, or demography, it can affect anyone anywhere anytime. The report also reveals that by 2025 the number of cancer cases in men may reach 7,63,575 and 8,06,218 in women. These figures are alarming and every living being is vulnerable to this deadly disease. Fighting against cancer requires a lot of strength, a positive attitude, zeal to survive, emotional support, and huge financial resources.
According to a national survey, the average total cancer care expenditure in 2017-2018 was around Rs. 1,16,218 (public hospitals). Whereas in private hospitals, the cost was approximately Rs. 1,41,774. However, public hospitals are comparatively more economical than private hospitals for cancer treatment but the overall cost is still expensive. Moreover, the medical inflation over these years has sky-rocketed the cancer care treatment cost.
In such a situation, the best companion to manage cancer care expenses is cancer insurance. A comprehensive cancer insurance plan can relieve you and your family from the financial burden while dealing with an already stressful medical condition.
Let's dive deep to explore the significance and advantages of having cancer insurance.
These days, various general comprehensive health insurance plans cover critical illnesses, having cancer on the top of the list. It can be helpful in a scenario where the policyholder is diagnosed with a type of cancer. But such covers or add-on plans are not sufficient to bear cancer treatment expenses. These policies usually offer coverage for inpatient hospitalization and treatment at hospitals in India. They do not cover the entire cost of treatment. Also keeping the standard sum insured amount in mind which is INR 5 lakhs then it may become inadequate to meet the treatment requirements for a disease like cancer. Moreover, comprehensive individual or family floater plans generally come with some limitations in terms of the sum insured capping, or waiting period, etc. Therefore, cancer insurance becomes an ideal plan to ensure getting treatment sans financial burden.
Starting with the basics of cancer insurance plans, their minimum entry age is 18 years and the maximum age is 65 years, and the renewability of the policy after 65 years of age varies from policy to policy. Some of the common forms of cancer covered by such insurance plans include breast cancer, ovary cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, hypopharynx cancer, and prostate cancer. But usually, skin cancer is not covered.
The cancer-specific insurances are highly beneficial as they come with higher sum insured ranging from INR 10-50 lakhs that are sufficient to undertake the expensive treatments. It includes cancer diagnosis and treatment such as hospitalization, radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery, to name a few.
These plans take care of early and advanced stages of treatment which saves the patients and their families from the financial and mental pressure. Since the cancer disease is defined based on severity, a certain percentage of the policy sum assured is paid in a lump sum depending upon the terms & conditions laid in a policy. Usually, to pay the cancer benefit, the disease is divided into different stages of severity. The insurance payout depends on the stage of cancer and claims previously admitted under the policy. Such insurance policies also offer free regular cancer check-ups during the entire duration of the policy term.
Some cancer care plans also offer the benefit of premium waiver in certain cases. In this waiver benefit, once a claim under the major stage cancer benefit clause is approved, all future premium payments for the policy are waived off for the rest of the policy term. However, such a facility is applicable only when all due premiums have been paid and the policy is active.
Moreover, another benefit of cancer care policies is that they are affordably priced compared to other types of health plans. Also, the policyholders can avail of exemption on tax under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. However, generally, there is no death, maturity, or surrender benefit payable under such plans.
Life doesn't run based on the assumption that some might catch the cancer disease and some might not because no one is sure about life and what disease it may carry in the future. Therefore, there are some parameters to analyze the requirement of this kind of a plan for oneself.
Cancer is a kind of disease that increases the risk if it runs in the family. Hence, if a close relative has suffered from any nature of cancer disease then other family members might have a higher chance to have it too. Therefore, buying a cancer-specific plan in advance can help in dealing with this deadly disease in a better manner.
As mentioned above, cancer treatment incurs a huge amount which can put pressure on your investments, therefore to safeguard your long-term investments and deal with the cancer disease without financial distress, it is imperative to have an insurance plan as a backup for emergencies.
Naval Goel is the CEO & founder of PolicyX.com. Naval has an expertise in the insurance sector and has professional experience of more than a decade in the Industry and has worked in companies like AIG, New York doing valuation of insurance subsidiaries. He is also an Associate Member of the Indian Institute of Insurance, Pune. He has been authorized by IRDAI to act as a Principal Officer of PolicyX.com Insurance Web Aggregator.