Challenging health events can happen at any time, to any of us. While some of your health-care needs may be covered by your provincial or territorial plan, it’s likely that many other health-care costs are not. Protect yourself and your loved ones from the financial strain of unexpected medical bills with health insurance. It’s an important part of your holistic financial plan, giving you peace of mind in the face of unexpected medical expenses.
What is health insurance?
Health insurance generally refers to insurance products which can help protect you against certain health events. Each product is a policy that gives you financial protection against the costs of medical events, like an injury or illness. The policy must be in effect before a medical need happens.
Types of health insurance products
There are four main types of health insurance available to people living in Canada:
- Personal health insurance
- Critical illness insurance
- Long-term care insurance
- Disability insurance
What is personal health insurance?
Personal health insurance (also known as private health insurance) is coverage that can help Canadian residents cover the cost of preventive care or medical bills due to an illness. It can help pay for health-related expenses, including:
- Prescription drugs to treat a chronic or serious health condition
- Dental care such as teeth cleanings, braces, dentures and crowns
- Vision-care needs such as eye exams and prescription glasses
- Emergency travel medical services when you travel to another country
- Physiotherapy to help with injury recovery
- Medical equipment to help with your mobility
Who is personal health insurance for?
Personal health insurance can be helpful for many people . It can come in handy if:
- You’re self-employed or you don’t have benefits through your workplace plan
- You’re looking to top up your employer’s coverage
- You’re retired or nearing retirement
- You don’t want to pay out-of-pocket for various health expenses, which aren’t fully covered (or covered at all) by the government or your employer’s workplace plan
Benefits of personal health insurance
✔ Pays for eligible expenses your government health plan won’t cover.
✔ Pays for eligible prescription drugs, dental, vision care, physiotherapy and more.
✔ Helps protect you if you don’t have benefits through your employer.
What is critical illness insurance?
Critical illness insurance (CII) is coverage that can help Canadians or those living in Canada pay the additional costs associated with life-altering illnesses like cancer, stroke, heart attack and dementia.
Why do I need critical illness insurance?
If you’re diagnosed with a covered illness, your critical illness insurance policy can help you pay for expenses that your provincial or territorial health plan doesn’t cover.
Many Canadians assume that their government health plan or workplace benefits plan will cover many of the medical costs associated with a life-altering illness. But these plans might not cover all the extra costs that come with managing a critical illness, like home-care costs, travel and/or accommodation, lost work wages, childcare costs, gas and meals. Over time, these expenses can add up.
With CII, you can receive a lump-sum payment that you can use however you need so that you can focus on your recovery.
How does critical illness insurance pay out?
Let’s say you’re diagnosed with an illness covered by your policy and you meet all of the policy requirements (such as survival period). In such cases, you’ll receive a lump-sum payment once your claim is approved undefined .
You can then use this money however you want and for any reason. For example, this can cover out-of-pocket expenses that may not be covered by your provincial or territorial health insurance, such as certain prescription drugs, mortgage, rent, short- or long-term care, etc.
How much coverage can you get?
At Sun Life, we offer 2 critical illness insurance products: Sun Critical Illness Insurance and Express Critical Illness Insurance. These products offer different amounts of coverage.
What is long-term care insurance?
LTCI helps Canadians pay for the increased health care and personal assistance care we typically need later in life. It’s a type of health insurance meant to cover care over a long time when you can no longer take care of yourself.
It can help pay for the care you need such as:
- Nursing care, rehabilitation and therapy
- Personal care like help dressing, eating, or bathing
- Homemaking like meal preparation, cleaning, or laundry
- Having someone watch over and help you when you need it
- What is disability insurance?
- Disability insurance (DI) helps protect you financially by replacing a portion of your income. You receive a benefit if you’re ever diagnosed with a covered medical illness, mental health issue, or injury that prevents you from working.
- Disability insurance is a type of health insurance. Other types of health insurance include personal health insurance, critical illness insurance, and long-term care insurance. What makes disability insurance different from other health insurances is that it is insurance for your income and is linked to your ability to work. It can help you meet your financial obligations during your recovery until you can return to work.
- How does disability insurance benefit you?
- When you’re unable to work because of an illness or injury, your income stops – but your bills don’t. Disability insurance can help you cover your bills in the short and long term so that you can focus on managing your health and condition.
- Getting an individual disability insurance policy can be beneficial for you even if you don’t work in a physically demanding role. As an example, if you are diagnosed with major depression that prevents you from working, your policy could replace a portion of your income while you focus on your mental health.
- Types of disability insurance
- There are different kinds of disability insurance coverage, including individual insurance plans, group insurance plans, as well as government plans such as worker’s compensation and benefits provided under the Canada Pension Plan.
- Depending on the coverage you have, your policies or plans may also refer to your disability coverage as either ‘short-term disability’ or ‘long-term disability’ plans.
- The difference between short-term disability and long-term disability is that short-term disability benefits are paid out almost immediately after you are injured or diagnosed with an illness. Long-term disability benefits, however, have longer waiting periods before benefits start, and are intended to maintain income replacement if your condition keeps you out of work past the end of your short-term disability period.
