Critical illness cover in US gets little attention

Critical illness cover
products in their current form have been available in the US for
almost 20 years.

But despite this and the role
they can play in times of distress, critical illness policies have
attracted little interest, indicates a study undertaken by industry
body the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance and
reinsurer Gen Re.

In total, the study found
that some one million Americans have critical illness cover, a
fraction of the country’s population now approaching 310m
people.

Amounts covered are generally
also not significant, with the study revealing that in 2010 53% of
women and 49% of men buying individual critical illness insurance
policies last year opted for coverage equal to $20,000 or
less.

Indicative of other amounts
of cover bought, the survey found that 22% of men and women
purchased between $20,001 and $30,000 of protection. 13% of men and
11% of women purchased coverage of $50,001 or more.

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