Half of new critical illness insurance policies cover $20,000 or less

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance’s and Gen Re’s 2011 critical illness insurance buyer study, 53 percent of women and 49 percent of men purchased individual critical illness insurance policies last year with coverage equal to $20,000 or less.

Jesse Slome, executive director of AACII, says, “Individuals recognize the value of buying enough protection to pay for one or two year’s worth of mortgage or rent payments or to pay costs not covered by their health insurance.”

Also according to the survey, 22 percent of men and women purchased between $20,001 and $30,000 of protection, and 13 percent of men and 11 percent of women purchased coverage of $50,001 or more.