Is it necessary for children to get critical illness coverage?
For most children, their childhood is filled with laughter and fun. But for some others, they had to endured having their arms prodded and poked by needles and living with fear and anxiety about the illness. Here is The Today’s cover of Huo Xi Cheng, who at the age of 10, was diagnosed with leukaemia and had to go through cancer treatments.
Statistics
Based on statistics by Children’s Cancer Foundation, the number of children diagnosed with childhood cancer has been increasing. According to Children’s Cancer Foundation, in 2019, it has reached 194 cases, with the most of them diagnosed with Leukaemia. And childhood cancer is just one of the threats. The worrying thing is that according to Children’s Cancer Foundation, there is no known cause for most childhood cancers.
Why it makes perfect sense to get your child covered for critical illness?
When a child falls ill, parents usually had to be doubly strong to provide emotional and financial support for their child. It is a painful yet necessary process, and the best care to a child is to have their parent(s) by their side whenever they felt discomfort or is in pain. Likewise, this is usually what all parents hope they could do for their children.
At times, parents may feel that it is taboo to cover their children against critical illness. Or they may feel that they would not want any money should anything happen to their children, or they could also feel that they are the ones earning to support their children, so why would a child need additional coverage?
There are many reasons, and #1 is the most important reason.
- Income replacement for parents – It is common knowledge that when parents purchase insurance for themselves, it is to cover for their own income to take care of themselves and their families when anything happens to them. However when it comes to providing coverage for child, it provides living expenses to the family to look after the child.
- When children are seriously ill, as parents, you’d want to spend the bulk of your time to look after them, buy the best food you can for them. But overtime, this may take a toll on your savings due to lower/no income.
- If the illness results in a condition that is permanent or long term in nature, this pay out acts as additional funds for you and your family.
- It guarantees child’s insurability at life stages too. In my line of work, I have encountered countless children having pre-existing conditions when they’re applying for a critical illness coverage in future. These conditions may be permanently excluded.
- Affordability. Insurance premium increases as we age. Thus, premium is the lowest when you buy for your child. In general, premiums for children is about 30% of what adults are paying.
How does insurance come into play?
Hospitalisation/Integrated Shield Insurance – This is used to cover the hospital bills that are related to the surgical/inpatient admission.
Critical Illness Insurance – This is used to help cushion the impact serious illness have on the household income and expenses by paying out a lump sum to the family.
While it is unimaginable that serious illness may happen to our children, it will be even harder for the family to take, if parents must fork out an additional sum of money to tide the family over if it really happens. The key is to outsource an “emergency fund” while concentrating the rest of your funds for growth without worry. If you’re looking out for a plan for your child/new-born, you can read my review of the AIA maternity coverage tie-in with their Guaranteed Protect Plus plan for children.
Disclaimer: Information written is to my best knowledge as per the date posted and has no legal rights. It represents my personal opinion, which may be different from yours, and that’s totally cool. It is important to read the policy contract and documents for the full terms and conditions. This post does not constitute a recommendation. Please seek professional advice before committing to a plan as it is a long term commitment.
