Medical emergencies can take place anytime out of the blue. And most of the time when you are caught off-guard due to such emergencies, you tend to be unprepared financially as well, especially when you don’t have any health insurance to cover the medical expenses.

But if you do have health insurance, then the policy acts as the first line of defense against critical illnesses. However, even health insurance plans have their limitations, and this is why you should consider getting critical illness insurance for yourself. And to help you understand its benefits, here are 4 reasons to get critical illness insurance:

1. It acts as a backup for your health insurance

Most critical illness insurance plans come in two types, either as an add-on to your health insurance or as standalone insurance. Now if you already have health insurance, then getting it as an add-on to your existing insurance is much more beneficial, because when the sum insured from your health insurance is exhausted in the treatment, then the sum you get from the critical illness insurance helps in covering the remaining costs of the treatment.

2. Covers major illnesses and surgeries

Health insurance usually cover critical illnesses, such as those related to the heart, lungs, kidneys, cancer and also many major surgeries. However, some medical procedures that aren’t covered by the insurance for which you have to pay on your own. But having critical illness insurance helps in covering the illnesses, surgeries and other ailments that aren’t covered under your health insurance, which saves you from paying out your pocket.

3. You can use it as a source of income

At the time of any medical emergency, most of the family members of the patient stay at the hospital in case any formalities have to be completed or any sudden requirements arise. This means that the working individuals of that family won’t be able to go to work of their duration of the hospital stay, or in some cases might even end up losing their jobs due to the extended stay and this could cause considerable loss of income which could help in the medical costs. In such incidents having critical illness insurance could prove to be beneficial as the payout from the insurance can be used to cover any household expenses or any loan payments and much more.

4. There are tax benefits in it

Just like how you can enjoy tax benefits on your health insurance, you get similar benefits on your critical illness insurance as well. So whatever premium you for the insurance can be considered as a tax-deductible within the pre-defined slabs by the Income Tax office. This means you won’t have to worry about paying extra tax on the premium payments of the insurance.

These are some of the reasons why you should get critical illness insurance, either as an add-on on your health insurance or as a standalone policy, which would help you in a big way for any medical emergencies.