Having seen many of his patients left struggling financially as a result of treatment costs, a Doctor by the name of Marius Barnard worked with insurance Companies to launch the world’s first critical illness insurance (CI) policy in South Africa in 1983.
Twenty years later, the concept has finally made its way to Canada.
A Critical Illness policy will provide a tax-free, lump-sum benefit if you are diagnosed with and survive a major illness such as cancer, heart attack or stroke. You can use these funds however you see fit – to take a sabbatical and recuperate, make renovations to your home, pay off your mortgage or other debts, supplement your retirement savings or even pursue private medical treatment in the United States or other countries.
It is a solution that is gaining momentum with healthy Canadians partially as a result of medical advances where people are surviving critical illnesses more today than ever before.
However they are surviving with consequences … emotional and financial leaving a gaping need for this type of benefit at those time.