Critical Illness Insurance

In addition to the basic coverage, the following are insured conditions, depending on which insurance company is chosen.

• 50,000 Canadians suffer a stroke each year
• 75% survive the initial event
• Strokes are the leading cause of neurological disability
• 1/3 of stroke victims are under the age of 65
• 60% of stroke victims will be left with a disability

Source: Heart and Stroke Foundation

• More than 130,000 Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer this year
• Over 60,000 people in Canada will die this year from the disease
• 1 in 3 Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime
• 1 in 9 women will develop breast cancer
• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2.5 men will develop cancer in their lifetime

Source: Canadian Cancer Society

• Bypass surgery is performed more on men than women by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1
• There are approximately 11,000 bypass surgeries performed in Canada each year
• The rate at which bypass surgery is performed on people age 65 and older has increased

Source: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario/Canada

• More than 50,000 Canadians have Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• MS is the most common neurological disease among young Canadians
• Canadians have one of the highest rates of MS in the world
• Women are twice as likely to develop MS as men

Source: Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada

• 30% of all Parkinson’s patients are under 50
• 20% of all Parkinson’s patients are under 40
• There are approximately 80,000 – 100,000 Canadians suffering from Parkinson’s

Source: Parkinson’s Foundation of Canada

• There is an estimated 900 Canadians who sustain a spinal cord injury each year
• More than 30,000 Canadians suffer from paralysis of 2 or more limbs
• Most persons who suffer spinal cord injury are between 16 and 30 years of age
• The most common causes of spinal cord injury are car collisions and falls

Source: National Spinal Cord Injury Association of Canada

• Alzheimer Disease is the fourth leading cause of death in Canada
• Every year approximately 10,000 Canadians die from Alzheimer’s
• Approximately 1 in 100 Canadians suffer from Alzheimer’s disease
• There are approximately 22,000 people in Metro Toronto with Alzheimer’s
• The disease occurs in 8% of the general population over 60

Source: Canadian Alzheimer Society

• Kidney disease ranks sixth among diseases causing death in Canada
• Each day an average of 8 Canadians learn that their kidneys have failed
• Approximately 2000 Canadians are on a waiting list for kidney transplant
• 351 kidney transplants were performed in Ontario in 1995
• 1 in 10 will develop kidney stones at some point in their lives

Source: Kidney Foundation of Canada

• 280,000 Canadians are deaf
• 1,120,000 Canadians are hard of hearing
• 1,400,000 do not use amplification
• There are more than 2,800,000 Canadians with hearing loss

Source: Canadian Hearing Society

• Approximately 4.4 million health care workers suffer 800,000 needle sticks and other injuries from sharp objects annually
• An estimated 16,000 of these objects are contaminated with HIV

Source: Canadian AIDS Society

Return of premium

Upon death, most policies will return all premiums to your beneficiary as part of the policy – no additional charge, while others charge for this option as a rider.

Payback of the premium rider

Many policies offer this option on policies with a level premium to age 65, 70 or 75. For an extra premium, if you do not have a claim, you will get all your premiums back at the policy ending at age 65, 70 or 75, depending on the insurance company and policy purchased.

Children’s rider

Coverage is offered to children ages 2-17 and, in some cases, for children you have in the future, starting at birth. It will pay a lump sum. Usually, $25,000 on the diagnosis of a critical illness and the one premium frequently covers all children in the family.

Ten-year renewable term

Similar to ten-year renewable term life insurance. Rates are guaranteed in the policy, but they increase every ten years until the policy ends at age 65, 70 or 75. Generally applicable if the need is limited to 15 years or less. One use is to provide cash to complete a retirement plan should the insured become ill.

Level to age 65, 70, 75

The policy lasts to the age given, and the premiums remain the same throughout. It is one area of concern. The greatest likelihood of a claim is between 65 and 75, so the longer-term policies will cost a little more but could be worth the extra cost. It is an important consideration.

Permanent or to age 100

These are designed to last a lifetime, so the chances of collecting are high; hence so is the premium. Also, be careful that at age 100, the policy is still in place. While this has some uses, if money is short, one should look at getting the coverage to age 75.