Critical Illness Articles
Can Children Be Included in a Critical Illness Cover Policy ?
Men and women who have families with young children often ask whether they can add their offspring to a critical illness cover. The answer, to the relief of many, is yes.
Critical illness cover can offer peace of mind to mothers and fathers who are concerned about how they will take care of their children should they become critically ill or injured and unable to work. How would they afford the costs associated with raising a child? Critical illness cover provides a tax-free benefit that can be used to help with the expenses related with raising children.
In addition, many insurers also offer to include children on the parent’s critical illness cover. If a child becomes critically ill with a disease such as cancer or suffers a serious injury, medical bills can accumulate quickly. Some medical costs simply may not be included with a regular health insurance plan. Critical illness for children is yet another tool for parents to help cope with expenses after their child receives a stressful diagnosis.
What are the Medical Requirements for Children ?
Most insurers will include children on a parent’s critical illness cover at no extra charge. Additionally, there is no formal underwriting for children to be added onto a policy.
However, children may not be covered if they have had a history of certain medical issues. For instance, if your child had a heart condition at an early age and needed medical attention, this would be considered a pre-existing condition. The child would either be denied critical illness cover, or heart disease may be excluded from an potential claims.
In addition, a child born with a defect or congenital health condition may also have exclusions on a parent’s critical illness cover. Therefore, it is always best to be honest and let your insurer know about any health issues that a child has experienced in the past. This will prevent a heartbreaking denial of benefits in the future.
Filing a Claim for Children
Filing a claim for a child is akin to the process an adult would undergo. The parent must complete a claim form and submit it to the insurer. As long as the child is diagnosed with an acceptable disease or injury as outlined in the plan, then the family could be eligible for the cash benefit. A claim investigation will be performed to determine eligibility and verify that there was no false information or missed medical information provided on behalf of the child at the time of application.
As well, the family will be eligible for the cash benefit only if the child meets the survival period. This is generally a timeframe of 15 to 90 days where the insured must survive the disease or injury. If the child is eligible, there is a one-time cash benefit only. No future claim can be made on behalf of the same child, but the benefit will not affect the eligibility for the adult.
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