Health insurance is a standalone policy that offers coverage for the expenses that you incur towards the treatment of diseases and medical conditions. On the other hand, critical illness insurance is an add-on cover that you can opt for over and above a standalone health insurance plan by paying a nominal additional premium.
While health insurance is designed to only cover healthcare expenses, a critical illness cover is designed to offer a lump sum payment upon diagnosis of any of the critical illnesses covered. Also, with a health insurance plan, you can make multiple claims till you exhaust your sum insured amount. However, with a critical illness cover, you’re allowed to make only one claim, after which the cover ceases.
In the context of insurance, the term ‘cover’ is used to refer to an additional feature you can add to your existing insurance plan in order to enhance your coverage. If the event or unfortunate circumstance specified by an insurance cover does take place, your insurance coverage can be extended to help you meet expenses. In the case of Critical Illness cover, your insurance coverage can be enhanced to help you financially cope with the expenses relating to a wide range of debilitating diseases, known as Critical Illnesses.
Now, that we have a better understanding of the concepts of health insurance and critical illness cover, let us review a point-by-point comparison between the two. To help put the health insurance vs critical illness in perspective, here are the differences between them:
Differences |
Health Insurance |
Critical Illness Cover |
Coverage |
Coverage under health insurance plans is provided for expenses related to hospitalizations as well as treatment for medical conditions. Health insurance plans also cover other related expenses such as ambulance charges, consultation fees, and medicine costs. |
Critical illnesses cover a large portion of expenses specifically relating to the diagnosis and treatment of a definite list of critical illnesses, including cancer, heart attack, kidney failure and stroke. These expenses also include consultation fees and other medical expenses. |
Payout |
Regular health insurance plans pay out for the expenses related to your medical emergency and subsequently adjust the sum assured accordingly. |
A critical illness cover pays out a lump sum amount only in the event that the insured is diagnosed with any of the specified illnesses. The coverage then ceases to exist, unless renewed. |
Claims |
Health insurance provides a more extensive medical coverage, which is why the insured can make multiple claims throughout the tenure of the policy. |
During the tenure of the critical illness coverage, you can only make a single claim. |
Term of Policy |
Most health insurance plans allow the policyholder to avail a term of his or her choice. The policy is then only renewed after that specific period of years. |
Critical Illness cover offers a typically annual policy and requires renewal every year. |
Other Features |
Certain health insurance plans, such as those available on Bajaj Markets, offer the convenience of cashless facilities at any of their network hospitals. |
Most critical illness covers do not offer this convenience of cashless payments. |
In these aforementioned ways, health insurance and critical illness cover are considerably different from each other. However, one thing that is essential to remember amidst the health insurance vs critical illness discussion is that both serve their own purpose when it comes to helping the insured deal with the rising costs of healthcare. While critical illness cover offers assistance for specific diseases, health insurance offers a more extensive coverage for a variety of conditions.
If you are on the lookout for a trusted health insurance plan in the market, look no further than Bajaj Markets and their personalized, affordable health insurance plans. With sum assured of up to Rs 50 lakhs and premiums as low as just Rs. 198 per month, you can avail a health insurance policy with no capping on room rent, swift claim settlements and cashless facilities in more than 6500 hospitals.