Diagnosis: Critical Illness - Are You Prepared?
Time is Running Out to Enroll in the
New Critical Illness Plan
When you have a critical illness you are required to continue paying for your health insurance while you undergo treatment and recover. It could take 6 months, 12 months or longer to recover from a heart attack or cancer. During this time you won't be working and receiving a paycheck or earning a living. So, if you pay $300 a month for health insurance, you'll have to come up with $3,600 for a year's worth of coverage while you are recovering. You have no choice - you can't drop your insurance.
It's details like these that most of us don't think about until we are put into the situation ourselves. How would we pay for this necessary expense? How would we pay for our mortgage? What about groceries? Gas? Car payments? Making ends meet can become more of a challenge when you become disabled by a critical illness.
That's why UAM teamed up with MetLife to offer a Critical Illness plan to help provide coverage when you need it if you ever diagnosed with a critical illness.
How Does Critical Illness Insurance Work?
If you experience one of the covered conditions and meet all the group policy and certificate requirements, you will receive a lump-sum benefit payment to use as you see fit including:
- medical insurance payments
- living expenses
- pharmacy expenses
During the enrollment period you can enroll for the following coverage without medical underwriting:
- Employee: Per category benefit amount of $15,000 each (3 categories)
- Spouse: $15,000 (same option as employee) provided employee enrolls for coverage.
- Dependent Child(ren): $10,000 per category benefit amount per dependent child provided employee enrolls for coverage.
What Are The Covered Conditions?
Critical Illness Insurance provides you with a lump-sum benefit payment in the event that your or your covered dependent experience one of the covered conditions in one of three categories:
- Category 1: cancer
- Category 2: heart attack, stroke
- Category 3: kidney failure, major organ transplant, bone marrow transplant, heart transplant and coronary artery bypass graft
How Do I Enroll?
Critical Illness enrollment packets have been mailed to all employee home addresses or you can download the information by clicking here. You must complete the paper forms and return them to MetLife by December 11, 2009 to be enroll in Critical Illness coverage. Additional information about the Critical Illness plan and how it works with your medical plan can be found in your 2010 Guide to Benefits. If you have questions concerning this plan, contact MetLife directly at 1-800-438-6388.
Time is Running Out
Open Enrollment ends on December 11, 2009. Your next chance to enroll in the Critical Illness plan will be during open enrollment next fall.
MetLife Critical Illness Insurance (CII) is a limited group policy. Like most group accident and health insurance policies, MetLife’s CII policies contain certain exclusions, limitations and terms for keeping them in force. Product features and availability vary by state. In most states, there is a 30-90 day waiting period after the effective date of coverage. There is also a pre-existing condition exclusion which varies by state and a benefit suspension period between covered conditions in different categories. A more detailed description of the benefits, limitations, and exclusions applicable to you can be found in the Disclosure Document or Outline of Coverage. Please contact MetLife for more information.
