According to a study performed by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, in conjunction with General Re Life Corporation, more than half of all first-time claims filed through critical insurance policies by Americans are related to cancer.
Furthermore, strokes and heart attacks made up 29 percent of the new claims last year.
There are currently approximately one million people in the United States who have an active critical illness insurance policy, which functions as a type of mini disability protection that pays the policyholder a cash benefit in the case that he or she is diagnosed with one of the illnesses covered by that policy.
The research also found that about half of new claims were made by individuals younger than 55 years.
This research, entitled the 2012 Critical Illness Buyer & Claimant Study revealed a number of details about the claims that are being made through this form of policy. According to the director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, Jesse Slome, “Roughly 13 percent of policyholders who received critical illness insurance benefits last year were younger than 45.” He went on to say that “Critical illness insurance is gaining traction among individuals in their 30s and 40s who want to supplement their high deductible health insurance plans.”
It also determined that there was a sharp spike between last year and this year in the number of claims that were paid to individuals in the 35 to 44 year old age group. Approximately 10 percent of the new claims by women and 8 percent of those made by men fell into this age group. Comparatively, last year’s statistics showed only 4 percent were in that age group.
Ken Smith , the director of health product sales at the leading critical illness insurance company, Assurity Life Insurance Company, explained that every year, millions of people across the company suffer a heart attack or receive the news that they have cancer. Though most will survive their conditions, it is also important to realize that two out of every three bankruptcies in the United States are the result of lost income and uncovered medical expenses.
