 How Health Insurance Works: Insurance is a way of spreading, or sharing, financial risk.The idea of insurance dates back to the days of the Romans, but it wasn’t formalized until the 18th century. It’s a simple concept: a large number of people pay into a fund or pool. When one of them suffers an unexpected misfortune, he or she is compensated by the fund. The payout is called a benefit. Health insurance pays part or all of your expenses when you see a health care professional, spend time in a hospital or purchase covered health care services and products.
Critical illness plans and/or riders on other types of individual or group plans pay you a cash lump sum if you are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness such as cancer, heart disease requiring surgery, heart attack or stroke.
To give you a better idea of the sort of illnesses here's a typical list of critical illnesses and medical conditions are covered:
• Cancer
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Kidney failure
• Major organ transplant
• Major organ failure on waiting list
• Multiple sclerosis
• Late onset diabetes
• Coma
• Paralysis
• Dismemberment
• Blindness
• Deafness
• Muteness (loss of speech)
• Major burns
• Benign brain tumour
• Occupational injury HIV
• Motor neuron disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cystic fibrosis
• Loss of independent existance
Some Life Insurance companies guarantee that the illnesses and conditions are open ended, which means that any definition improvement or favourable changes observed after the contract is established can be made at the time premiums are revised in order to take into account new market trends.
You can use the money for anything you want: to pay off debts, to finance expensive medical equipment or special home care, to pay for child care, to change careers or to start a small business. Many Insurance companies also offer "Best Doctors® Medical Assistance", which give you opportunity to obtain a second opinion if you're diagnosed with one of insurable illness, locate the best doctors in a given region and the best healthcare centres.
Insurance companies offer refund of premiums in the event of death. Moreover you can choose contractual option which profide flexible premium refunds if insured person has decided to cancel Critical Illness contract in certain period of time.
We deal with all the big Canadian Life & Health Insurance providers and can search the whole market for you, come up with the cheapest insurer and best contract.
There could be another option if you have only Life Insurance and do not have Critical Illness Insurance.
If you become terminally ill, you may need extra cash to pay medical bills and living expenses.
Many companies provide living or accelerated benefits to individual life insurance policy holders who suffer a life-threatening illness.
When you apply for living benefits from your life insurance policy, you must provide your insurance company with a medical opinion that you are in the terminal stages of an illness and have 24 months or less to live.
The insurance company must also ascertain that the proceeds from your policy have not been assigned to pay off a loan or debt, or left irrevocably to someone who might sue for full benefits once you die.
If these two conditions are met, the company typically pays you a percentage of the value of your policy, not exceeding 50 per cent. Some companies pay predetermined maximum dollar amounts in living benefits. Others treat the living benefits payment as an advance or loan and charge interest on it. Still others require you to pay regular premiums to keep your policy in force after you receive the benefits.
When you die, the amount that is left in your life insurance policy, less any interest charges, will be paid to your beneficiary or estate.
 Consult a lawyer or financial advisor before applying for living benefits. Although these benefits are not subject to income tax at present, they can affect your eligibility for social assistance benefits that are based on means tests.
Selling your life insurance policy to a viatical settlement company for a cash payment is another option in some provinces.The payment–which is taxable–is usually much less than the death benefit of the policy, and you must name the company as your beneficiary and give up all your rights under the policy.When you die, the company claims the full death benefit, leaving your intended beneficiary with nothing. The life and health insurance industry recommends that you find out whether you qualify for living benefits from your life insurance plan before you accept an offer from a viatical settlement company.
A few companies offer individual long-term care insurance plans, which pay for stays in nursing homes and chronic care facilities, or for the services of a caregiver in your own home.
When deciding whether to purchase such insurance you should consider your age, health and financial resources, along with any support you could expect from family and friends should you need long-term care.
There are variations among longterm care policies. Inquire about the maximum lifetime payout, inflation protection, and the length of time you must pay premiums.You should also find out whether your premiums are waived, or discontinued, when you make a claim and are receiving benefits.
If you are travelling outside Canada and have limited or no supplementary out-of-country coverage through a group plan or credit card, it is wise to buy an individual travel insurance policy.
When you need medical care while in another country, your provincial or territorial health insurance plan pays for the same services it covers when you are at home, at the same rate it pays for those services at home,and in Canadian dollars.
Moreover, if you extend your stay to more than six months, your government coverage may lapse (check with your provincial or territorial government to find out how long you can be away before losing your benefits).
If your government benefits do not cover the entire cost of the services you receive, you must pay the difference. Emergency surgery or a hospital stay could leave you with a crushing personal debt, if you do not have supplementary benefits. The best Individual health insurance for travellers is offered by Universal Fianance.
If you are travelling within Canada, an inter-provincial agreement exists to provide coverage for you. However we recommend you to buy Travel Insurance because provinces have different cost of medical service, including emergency surgery or a hospital stay, and you must pay the difference. The cost of Individual health insurance for travellers within Canada much lower than for travellers to USA or overseas.
Learn more and buy
When visitors come to Canada, any medical services they require while here may or may not be covered by Insurance from their home country.
Health care costs in Canada are very expensive. Hospitals can charge thousands of dollars per day. Without emergency hospital and medical insurance, you and your family would be responsible for these high costs, which can create a significant financial burden.
For this reason, visitors will usually buy health insurance which covers them during their stay in Canada.
New landed immigrants must wait up tp 3 month since arriving to Canada to be eligible for coverage under provincial government Health insurance plans.
The Immigrants & Visitors to Canada plan provides up to $150,000 in quality insurance coverage for non-Canadians seeking lawful immigration in to Canada. This plan is available to Landed Immigrants and is ideal for those awaiting provincial health coverage.
Learn more and buy
Government or public plans provide comprehensive coverage of core health care services such as wardlevel hospital acute care and most physician services. Supplementary plans focus on non-core services that are not covered–or not fully covered–by government plans.They may be group plans sponsored by employers, unions and associations or individual plans that consumers purchase for themselves.
Coverage varies considerably, partly because coverage of noncore services by government plans varies from province to province, and partly because group plan sponsors and individual plan purchasers choose varying kinds and levels of benefits. So it is important to carefully review the features of your group plan or an individual plan you are considering purchasing.
Extended health and dental plans are the most common kinds of supplementary health insurance plans.
To the extent that such services are not covered by your government plan, the health care services insured by extended health plans commonly include:
• prescription drugs/medicines;
• semi-private or private hospital accommodation;
• special nursing services;
• ambulance services;
• hospital and medical expenses incurred outside Canada;
• artificial limbs, prostheses and medical appliances;
• wheel chairs and other durable equipment;
• specified medical or paramedical services that fall outside government plans (e.g., services from chiropractors, physiotherapists, podiatrists, osteopaths and optometrists);
• vision care (eye glasses and contact lenses).
Expenses for dental services are often covered under a separate supplementary insurance plan. Coverage depends on the plan that is purchased.
Typically, dental plans cover expenses for:
• basic preventive and maintenance services such as regular checkups or examinations, cleaning, fillings, extractions and x-rays;
• root canals, periodontal cleanings and scaling.
Your dental plan may also pay for major restorative work, such as inlays and crowns, bridgework and dentures, as well as orthodontic treatments.
Other kinds of supplementary health insurance are available.
Who Is Covered?
Supplementary plans typically provide coverage for the individual who is a member, along with eligible dependents such as his/her spouse or partner and children under 19 (or older if they are full-time students or disabled). Eligibility criteria vary, so check your plan for details.
Learn more and buy
We are committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of the personal information we collect, use and disclose. Your personal information, including your medical history, will be collected, used and disclosed only for the purpose of providing you with the requested insurance services.
| 
