At which stage of Cancer does Critical Insurance pay?
Recently I have met a client, a female who is concerned about payout in event of being diagnosed with cancer, which is the benefit under critical illness portion of her insurance policy. Being a head nurse and her husband, a doctor, radiologist to be exact, they are quite familiar with the medical terms in the small print. After consultation with them, I decided on a post.
Cancer definition (3 insurance firms have exactly the same words and others have the same definitions)
“Any malignant tumor characterized by the uncontrolled growth and spread of malignant cells with invasion and destruction of normal tissue. This diagnosis must be supported by histological evidence of malignancy and confirmed by an oncologist or pathologist.
The following are excluded :−
(a) tumors showing the malignant changes of carcinoma-in-situ and tumors which are histologically described as pre-malignant or non-invasive, including, but not limited to: Carcinoma-in-Situ of the Breasts, Cervical Dysplasia CIN-1, CIN-2 and CIN-3;
(b) Hyperkeratoses, basal cell and squamous skin cancers, and melanomas of less than 1.5mm Breslow thickness, or less than Clark Level 3, unless there is evidence of metastases;
(c) Prostate cancers histologically described as TNM Classification T1a or T1b or Prostate cancers of another equivalent or lesser classification, T1N0M0 Papillary micro-carcinoma of the Thyroid less
than 1 cm in diameter, Papillary micro-carcinoma of the Bladder, and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia less than RAI Stage 3; and
(d) All tumors in the presence of HIV infection.”
The emphasis is on “uncontrolled growth and spread of malignant cells with invasion and destruction of normal tissue. From my understanding in layman terms, not to medical standards, this means cancerous tumours that have not “invaded” and “destroyed” normal tissues are not included. In medical standards, tumours of Carcinoma-in-Situ are not included. In layman terms, this excluded tumours are likely to be Stage 1 cancer.
Early Cancer Payout
There are a few insurance policies and/or riders which pays for cancer before this defined stage. Main difference is that they covers Carcinoma-in-Situ defined. This means that when the cancer is discovered before it turns malignant, it may qualify for a early cancer payout. Of course, with this improved benefit, the cost is going to higher too. This can be a choice for females especially as the common Carcinoma-in-Situ found in women are in the breast and ovary.
If you are interested in 2 of the definitions of early cancer, they are in Early Cancer Definition. Please contact me if you wished to find out more.
One Response to “At which stage of Cancer does Critical Insurance pay?”
Leave a Reply
Hi
Can you give me more details on pay out of cancer policies .. more insight on what are the stages where pay out happens …