Critical illness insurance for children: reassuring coverage

As parents, nothing is more important than our children’s health and wellbeing. The diagnosis of a critical illness in a child can be overwhelming for a family, impacting emotions, future plans and finances. Child critical illness coverage can be critical to support family stability and allow you to focus on what’s most important—your child’s treatment and recovery.

The impact of a critical illness

Naturally, no parent wants to think their child could be diagnosed with a critical illness. Yet health data shows that some critical illnesses do affect children, even at a young age.

This is why having critical illness insurance for children can give you security and peace of mind. It isn’t about expecting the worst—it’s about recognizing that even though uncommon, a child critical illness can have a profound impact on the family.

What’s more, the emotional toll of receiving a critical illness diagnosis can be immense. Parents have to cope with fear, uncertainty and, in many cases, a complete upheaval of their daily life. By reducing financial stress, critical illness insurance plays a key role in keeping family life steady.

Financial support that fits your needs

Child critical illness insurance is paid as a lump sum, which parents can use to:

• Offset lost income if a parent needs to take time off work to care for a sick child
• Cover the cost of in-home support services and medical expenses
• Pay for additional expenses, such as treatments, medications not covered by provincial or employer health plans, travel expenses, etc.

An excellent supplement to your group benefits plan

Even if you have group insurance through your employer, child critical illness coverage provides an important layer of additional protection. It provides immediate financial flexibility (often missing from standard plans) and helps you cover unexpected costs such as specialized consultations, elective surgeries or long hospital stays.

You can also choose to use the funds to make home adjustments that support your child’s well-being, such as installing medical equipment or remodelling a room to fit their needs.

Along with financial assistance, some insurance plans also offer psychological care or support services such as discussion groups or consultations with mental health professionals. These resources can provide much-needed support for both parents and children.

Plans designed for families

The Kiddy Plan

The Kiddy Plan provides a substantial guaranteed benefit when a critical illness is diagnosed. The coverage is provided at no cost for a 12-month period for children between 2 and 5 years of age. There are benefits to getting this insurance when your child is young: the cost is generally lower and coverage is guaranteed in the event of a diagnosis.

The Kiddy Plan includes:

• $2,000 in coverage on diagnosis of a critical illness
• A welcome gift, such as a mini first aid kit
• Personalized support from an advisor

A single policy is issued for all eligible children in the same family, and the benefit is paid only once on the first diagnosis. It’s a simple way to secure the right coverage while your child is still young. The aim is to give families a chance to get familiar with this type of coverage at no cost for a full year.

Covered illnesses include cancer, deafness, blindness, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and several others. Treatment of a critical illness can be costly and complex and is often not covered by government plans.

The Kiddy Plan is designed to help families become familiar with critical illness coverage free of charge, without a long-term commitment. It’s also a chance to see how this type of coverage could work with your family financial plan.

The Peek-a-Boo Plan

Your baby can have coverage as early as the 15th day of life with the Peek-a-Boo Plan, which offers free accident coverage for infants under one year, along with a gift for your little one. It gives parents completely free coverage for their newborn.

Critical illness insurance = peace of mind

Needless to say, child critical illness insurance cannot prevent the unexpected. however, it can help parents face an illness with less stress. Think of it as an investment in your peace of mind. It’s also a concrete way to safeguard the wellbeing of your children, which is every parent’s highest priority.

Critical illness coverage can even be part of your family’s overall financial plan: starting early means better enrolment conditions and fewer worries about expenses down the road.

For more information about critical illness insurance or about these plans, talk to your advisor.

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