• Heart Attack
• Stroke
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Cancer
• Heart Bypass Surgery
• Kidney Failure
• Paralysis
• Loss of Limbs
• Blindness
• Deafness
• Major Organ Transplant & Major Organ Failure
• Coma
• Severe Burns
• Loss of Speech
• Occupational HIV
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Motor Neuron Disease (ALS)
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Benign Brain Tumor
• Aortic Surgery
• Heart Valve Replacement
• Loss of Independent Existence

This type of insurance was introduced in 1992 and, thus, is relatively new. CI was originally developed in South Africa by Dr. Marius Bernard, brother of a well-known heart surgeon Christian Bernard, and later gained popularity in the Great Britain, continental Europe, and, since 1996, became available in North America. This type of insurance is very popular, because it protects directly the insured person.

In the UK, where CI has been popular for a long time, as many as 33 illnesses are covered by the policy. In Canada, the list of eligible illnesses presently includes 22 items; but this list is constantly expanded with new illnesses being included in the existing policies with no extra charges or conditions.

Using the words of Dr. Bernard himself, "you need insurance not only because you are going to die but also because you are going to live."

As shown in the table below, despite the growing life expectancy, illnesses are still the leading cause of death.

Life Expectancy
1900		1998
Men	Women	Men	Women

Also,

• 30% of men and 27% of women, who did not have any health problem in their youth, develop a critical illness by the age of 65.
• 1 out of 4 Canadians has some form of heart disease.
• 1 out of 3 Canadians develop cancer during his/her lifetime.
• More than 50,000 Canadians suffer a stroke every year.
• On average, people are diagnosed with a critical illness at the age of 41.

(Source: Munich Reinsurance Co. 1999)

CI is often referred to as Living Benefit, since it's designed to protect the person who becomes ill, which is especially important given the growing rate of survival of critical illness patients, as supported by the following data:

• survival rate for cancer patients doubled since 1970.
• mortality rate for patients with cardiovascular diseases has dropped during the last 10 years.
• 75% of people survive their first stroke, but 60% become disabled.

Thus, as the examples above suggest, traditional insurance may not always provide protection. For example, John is earning 40,000 and has employer-provided benefits which include Long Term Illness Insurance. He also has Life Insurance with 400,000 coverage to protect his wife and children. Unfortunately, John suffers a heart attack: stressful job and financial instability take their toll, but he survives (in one of Toronto's leading cardio hospitals, as many as 91% of patients live more 30 days after the attack). Usually in the period following a heart attack, family income falls, since the patient is not capable of working (and so is the spouse, who may have to stay at home to provide care), but expenses accumulate (medications, visits of a nurse, an operation in the US, where it can be performed immediately as opposed to waiting for a free operation in Canada). Three months later, the situation is more or less stable. John's wife could return to work, and John himself is feeling much better. He, however, is no longer able to handle his former job and would like to find something less demanding. Acquiring new skills and getting experience in a new field requires time, and John will need means subsistence during his transition. Unfortunately, neither his life insurance nor the employer's disability insurance will provide any assistance, since John survived the attack (so life insurance cannot be claimed) and is able to work but is simply seeking a different position (and, thus, can no longer be considered disabled).

CI, on the other hand, would provide protection in this situation: John would receive the entire amount of his coverage, tax-free, on the 31st day after the attack, with no restrictions on how this money could be spent. He could pay off his medical expenses, go to a warmer climate for faster recovery, or simply enjoy piece of mind knowing he does not have to search for a job immediately.

Thus, CI can be thought of as true Life Insurance, since it's the insured who gets the benefits of the program, whereas Life Insurance is more properly called Death Insurance: the benefits are paid only in case of death to the relatives of the insured.

CI benefits are paid in full on the 31st day after the onset of the illness. If the insured does not survive the illness and dies prior to this day, all payments made are reimbursed to the family (or designated heirs).

Similar to Life Insurance, there exist two types of CI contracts: TERM and PERMANENT. Term contracts provides coverage up to the age of 75, with growing monthly payments every 10 years. Permanent contracts provide fixed payments up to a certain age, e.g. 100 (T-100), 75 (T-75), or 65 (T-65). After insured person reaches specified age (100, or 75, 65) this contract expires. With a more expensive CI program, all the payments made by the insured will be reimbursed when the person reaches the specified age without developing an illness. Also, some programs allows the insured to terminate the contract and withdraw the money invested after 10 years or every 15 years. Naturally, more expensive programs offer greater flexibility.

You can obtain an estimate of your temporary Critical Illness (T-10) insurance now.

• Calculator #1 allows you to determine the monthly payment amount for an insurance contract with limited coverage (cancer, heart attack, stroke). The amount is based on your current age.
• Calculator #2 shows monthly payments for full coverage contracts (20 illnesses).

Now we can also offer the insurance, called Guaranteed Issue Critical Illness Insurance, for people, who already developed some critical illness. The pre-existent illness is excluded from the list, but all the rest illnesses are covered. An insurance contract has fixed monthly payments ranged from $18 to $48, which do not depend on the age of insured. Maximum coverage is 30,000. Contract expires, when insured becomes 65 years old.

If you would like to discuss your options in selecting CI program or simply get more information about various types of CI, please do not hesitate to contact me.

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