Cancer is the most dreaded disease, right? But when one is diagnosed with this deadly disease, fear is not at all an answer. You need preparation in all fronts, psychological, financial and obviously physical.
Cancer is on the rise and the vulnerability of the disease is increasing in our country because of pollution, lifestyle factors and environmental issues. Let us have a look at some statistics. While there were 14 lakh victims of cancer in this year, it is likely to reach more than 17.3 lakh by 2020. According to studies a vast majority of cancer cases happen due to environmental factors. To make us more worried over the danger of cancer, a recent report by International Agency for Research on Cancer, already our country is positioned third in respect to the number of haematological cancer patients in the world
So, we need to be prepared for the disease in every possible way. Apart from having all sorts of health precautions and lifestyle arrangements, we need to make an arrangement to meet the huge treatment cost in case anyone of our family is diagnosed with the lethal disease. Depending on the stage of cancer a person is diagnosed with one needs to spend somewhere around 5 lakh to 25 lakh of rupees to meet the cancer treatment cost in just 6 months from the date of diagnosis.
So, it is clear from the above mentioned discussion that insurance plans specifically designed to cover the financial risks of cancer is important for every individual. But what are the most effective cancer plans presently in the Indian market? Well, we have chosen here two specific cancer plans from two brands for a comparative analysis. They are respectively as Max Life Cancer Insurance Plan and AEGON Life iCancer Insurance Plan. But before going into discussion about them further let us first have a look at the various stages of cancer.
Various Stages Of Cancer
There are four different stages of cancer, respectively as Carcinoma In Situ (CIS), early stage, major stage and critical stage. For considering the insured amounts the insurers consider the first two stages in the same bracket while the last two stages are considered in another bracket.
- Carcinoma In Situ (CIS): In this stage the cancer cells still have not gone beyond the tissue membrane.
- Early stage: This stage is characterized by malignant tissue capable to penetrate surrounding tissues.
- Major stage: In this stage first ever malignant growth of the tumour is observed.
- Critical stage: This stage is characterized by severe malignant condition of the tumour growth that already penetrated far and wide.
Among the various cancer plans how to choose one that suits you?
There are many considerations in respect of choosing a cancer plan. Here are the key considerations listed.
- First of all, you need to consider the payout.
- Secondly, you need to consider the typical plan advantages for each stage and the total benefit from the plan.
- There are basically two distinct types of plans. Some cancer plans offer a fixed insurance sum for the entire policy term. There are others that offer gradually increased sum throughout the years until it reaches a fixed limit at the end of the policy term.
- While the first type of plan can offer a lower monthly premium, the second type of plan is more ideal to meet the escalated medical cost.
- You should also see whether the plan offers waiver of all future premiums in case of diagnosis.
- Lastly, you need to see whether upon diagnosis, the insured will get regular income benefit as fixed percentage of the sum insured.
Policy Term Matters
One of the most important aspects in choosing a cancer insurance plan is the insurance term. It is needless to say that you should go for maximum term to cover the vulnerability to the highest extent. A vast majority of cancer plans have a fixed maturity age at 75. Choosing maximum term you can stay covered for long years. Thus if you choose a plan at the age of forty five with a term of 20 years, you can stay covered until the age of 65.
When it comes to the cancer plan of Max Life, they rather insist on the maturity age and so you can stay covered till 55, 60, 65, 70 or 75 years as per your chosen maturity age. AEGON cancer care plan is a bit different in this respect. They offer an insurance term equal to 70 minus the age of entry in the policy. That means if you are opting for the policy at the age of 20, you can get a 50 years term until 50, but in case you opt for the plan at the age of 40, the term will be only 30 years.
Let us have a look at both the insurance plans in detail.
Max Life Cancer Insurance Plan
As per this cancer insurance plan, the policy benefits are available for all three stages including CIS, early and major stage. In case of both the CIS and early stage, a lump sum financial benefit is offered amounting 20 per cent of the insured sum for the policy. Apart from this, after the diagnosis all the future premiums are waived off. The plan at present covers cancer insurance for up to 5 different organs.
In case the disease is diagnosed in major stage, the lump sum financial benefit will be 100 per cent of the insured sum and apart from this there will be an annual payout of 10 per cent of the insured sum for next 5 years. Most importantly, this payout will be given irrespective of the death of the diseased if expiry of the policy.
AEGON Life iCancer Insurance Plan
This cancer insurance plan offers benefits across all three stages including minor or CIS, major and critical.
In case of the minor or early stage, 25 per cent of the sum assured will be provided upon diagnosis amounting a maximum limit of Rs 5 lakh per policy claim. At this stage there is no waiver of future premiums. In case the disease is diagnosed in major stage 100 per cent of the sum assured will be offered as lump sum benefit and in critical stage this lump sum payout is 150 per cent of the sum assured. In both cases all the future premiums are waived off.
