Guardian widens availability of critical illness plans

The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), New York, has recently made several enhancements to its critical illness plans aimed at increasing flexibility and giving access to more employees:

• Employers may now waive the pre-existing condition limitation on employer-paid plans with 10+ lives. This makes Critical Illness an even better fit when sold alongside of a high-deductible medical plan and allows for a smoother claims payment process with fewer delays.
• Employees may take the coverage with them if they leave their employer up until age 70. This gives employees more flexibility and makes the Guardian group product more competitive against individual critical illness products.
• Employers with two to 15 employees may now offer Critical Illness coverage to their employees. This gives small company employees access to the same benefits as large company employees.

With Guardian critical illness coverage, an employee who has a heart attack, stroke, cancer diagnosis, or other critical illness receives up to $50,000 to use for uncovered medical expenses as well as non-medical costs. When paired with a hospital admission rider, the plan pays a per day benefit up to $500 for as many as 10 days per year for an extended hospitalization due to a serious injury or illness not covered by critical illness.