Actualis



November 2011
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Critical illness insurance: for medical expertise, too

When you are diagnosed with a critical illness, the first thing you want to be sure of is that your treatment will be the most effective possible for your condition. And that’s one of the advantages of critical illness insurance.

In addition to the payment of a lump sum benefit, an increasing number of critical illness policies include support services to help the person before, during and after treatment. This program is generally included in the cost of the policy and may contain an especially valuable rider: a top-tier medical assistance service.

The best medical expertise

This service allows you to send your test results to a team of U.S. doctors associated with the leading institutions in the field and with the most advanced equipment available, something that is unfortunately not always the case in our health system. Your initial diagnosis will subsequently be confirmed or modified by a top specialist in the field. You will receive a written report that you can discuss with your treating physician. If desired, a doctor from the multidisciplinary team could also contact your treating physician to discuss your diagnosis and treatment plan. In this way, you can be sure that the treatment you receive will be the most appropriate for your condition.

The statistics for this type of service are impressive. One of these services1 states that, based on 15,000 of their cases, they helped to modify a patient’s diagnosis in 22% of cases, change the treatment plan in 61%, and avoid an invasive procedure in 67.3%.

Companies of this type can also direct you to the best doctors and health centres in North America for the treatment itself and take care of your reservations, appointments and accommodations. You would have to cover the actual costs, but you could use your insurance benefit for this.

Beyond money: the human factor

Other forms of support are also included in some critical illness insurance policies, notably:

• telephone access to a health professional;
• consultations with a psychologist;
• an information service to help you navigate the health system;
• assistance in coordinating home care;
• legal assistance;
• etc.

Stacking the cards

Looking at it from this angle, critical illness insurance clearly seems to be a way of stacking all the cards in your favour – not just financially but also from the human and medical perspectives – before any serious health problems develop.

When you realize that, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, only 55% of patients receive the appropriate diagnosis and treatment, this kind of coverage certainly deserves to be considered as part of a financial security plan.

1 Source: Best Doctors ®



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