Critical Illness Insurance

FarAwayToo

I'm almost 2 years out my BC diagnosis and am considered to be in remission. My employer is starting to offer this type of insurance. Basically, for $7.90 bi-weekly premium I can insure myself (and for additional $7.90 I can also insure my spouse) to receive a lump sum of $30,000 in case of the critical illness. I'm only looking at a 2 page pamphlet my employer provided, and the info regarding cancer is as follows:

• Invasive cancer - all breast cancer is considered invasive

• Non-invasive cancer (25%) (this means you get only 25% of the sum)

• Skin cancer

There is no information on recurrent cancer. I will try to contact the insurer to clarify this. I'm still not sure if I need this, even if they cover recurrences of a previously diagnosed cancer. The nice thing about the policy is that it is portable: i.e. if I leave my employer, I can take it with me (not sure if the premium will remain the same though). This is important consideration for me, because while I'm employed here, I have good health insurance, as well as short term and long term disability insurance, so this critical illness policy is not as enticing. It may change if I decide to leave.

Anyone enrolled in a similar insurance policy and if yes, what were your considerations?

vlnrph

This is something I have not investigated but I would also question what type of skin cancer is covered. The most common, basal cell (a result of sun exposure) is so frequent/benign once treated, that it does not even get included in reporting statistics. Squamous and of course melanoma are a different story...

Keep in mind that, in the US, metastatic disease will often qualify one for Social Security Disability Income. When approved, after a five month waiting period you receive the amount which you would get at full retirement age. By my calculation, this policy costs just under $200 a year per person. If individual underwriting is not required, where you would have to disclose medical history, genetic testing results, etc I might seriously consider it because it is estimated that around 25% of early stage BC will eventually recur.

I also wonder whether you would have to show proof of regular screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies. With the latter, malignancies can literally be nipped in the bud since the diagnosis comes with automatic treatment as the offending polyp is removed!

FarAwayToo

Thank you - I got a phone number for the insurer, but the deadline to enroll is tomorrow (yes, I dropped the ball, I had two weeks to find out the details and I only reacted when they sent us a reminder about the deadline), so I don't know if I'll have the time to call and enroll. For the price I may just enroll and find out the details later.

It explicitly states in the pamphlet that no medical exam is required prior to enrolling. Also, in addition to cancer, it covers other illnesses such as heart attack, stroke etc.

vlnrph

Well, from your history described here, I would guess that you are probably on the younger side/pre-menopausal and because everyone in Colorado is a health nut (from what I've heard!) you're not likely to be having cardiac trouble anytime soon.

I have however been acquainted with a couple of gals in their 50s who had strokes. Thankfully they both made a good recovery and went back to work although it took several months during which some extra $ might have come in handy since disability policies usually don't replace your full salary...

You would want to get a written description of the plan parameters which means tomorrow's phone call may not provide that level of detail unless they can fax it to you. Signing up now and getting additional info later is perhaps your best option. Maybe another person who has this type of coverage will respond at some point.

Tmh0921

My company offers this as well. I attempted to enroll a few years ago thinking it was a good idea. While no medical exam was required, I did have to complete an enrollment questionnaire. One of the questions was have you ever had cancer, and how long ago the cancer Dx was. I was denied based on the fact I already had a history of cancer