mumbai aviva life insurance has launched an online health plan called aviva health secure it is a critical illness product which will provide the policyholder with a lump sum amount on diagnoses of any critical illness as covered by the policy this product will help the family to fund unplanned medical expenses and get the best possible treatment this critical illness product can only be bought online the annual premium works to rs 2000 and above the minimum sum assured is rs 5 lakh and the maximum is rs 50 lakh the plan can be bought by a person from 18 years to 55 years of age for a minimum policy term of 10 years and a maximum term of 30 years these days people have become vulnerable to critical illnesses at an early age due to lifestyle and stress hence health insurance is critical keeping in mind the rising medical costs it is estimated that the total healthcare expenses in india will rise to usd 425 billion by 2016 even now 79 of indians fund their own medical expenses compared to 17 in the uk says tr ramchandran ceo md aviva india said the 12 critical illnesses covered by the plan are heart attack stroke cancer end stage kidney failure major organ transplant coronary artery bypass surgery benign brain tumor heart valve surgery motor neurone disease multiple sclerosis coma and paraplegia unlike the health insurance product offered by the nonlife companies which are indemnity based one can claim at the first diagnoses of any critical illness provided the critical illness has been diagnosed after 90 days of the policy commencement date or the date of reinstatement when should you consider buying critical illness if you have a hospitalisation expenses reimbursing medical insurance policy and still want to enhance your cover do have a look at critical illness policy these policies typically cover 10 critical illnesses such as cancer kidney failure and coronary artery bypass surgery critical illness covers are benefit policies and pay a fixed sum irrespective of your treatment expenses and payouts by other insurance policies says dr renuka kanvinde senior manager health administration services bajaj allianz general insurance company in other words the individual gets paid on diagnosis of specified ailment after he survives for 30 days proceeds from critical illness cover help to pay expenses that are not reimbursed by medical insurance policy such as organ donor fees and costs towards modification of house etc points out renuka kanvinde the premiums are not high for a 30 year old male for a sum assured of rs 5 lakh premium works out to rs 1685 per year you can also look at extra care policies if you are worried about large medical expenses