Edelweiss Tokio Life Brings “Health Shield+, an Innovative Heart + Cancer Insurance” Solution

In light of the rising healthcare costs and incidences of critical illnesses, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance brings an innovative “Heart and Cancer insurance” solution called Health Shield+ with one-of-a-kind feature – Term Trigger benefit.

The product provides cover for all types of Cancers and 17 cardiac conditions. Depending on their needs, a customer can opt for a cover only for Cancer or only Heart or both the ailments.

Commenting on the development, Sumit Rai, MD & CEO, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance said, “We have an unmoving focus on innovation. We want to be anticipative and recognise the unarticulated needs of our customers. The Term Trigger benefit is in line with this aim, and seeks to provide a comprehensive protection to our customers.”

Term Trigger benefit is an optional feature available under the Cancer variant of the plan. In case of detection of a major condition of cancer, the insurer extends a term cover to the policyholder, in addition to the lump sum pay out.

Cancer has a severe impact – emotionally and financially – on an individual and their family. A recent study conducted by Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance (click here to see the report), shows that survival rate of patients while promising in the first year post late stage detection, declines drastically following 5 years of diagnosis. While 45% patients survive post one year of diagnosis of a major condition, only 11% live beyond 5 years.

When one is fighting with a critical disease like Cancer, buying an insurance is typically not a priority. Additionally, buying an insurance at that stage becomes a cumbersome process. The Term trigger benefit is aimed at providing a sense of financial security to the individual’s loved ones and alleviate any financial concerns the policyholder may have for their loved ones.

Another unique feature is the Return of Premium, which allows the policyholder to recover all unclaimed premiums from the insurer on maturity.       

“With incidences of critical illnesses increasing, we don’t want customers to stay away from buying critical illness plans on account that they would lose their money in the event that they do not have to claim it,” Rai added.

The study also showed that cancer care can cost anywhere between Rs. 4 lakhs and Rs. 14 lakhs, depending on the stage of detection. More importantly, a whopping 75% of patients are either uninsured or inadequately insured to meet these treatment costs. With incidences of cancer likely to rise by about 25% over the next five years, a disease-specific insurance plan is essential.

Health Shield+ offers a fixed payout on diagnosis of minor and major conditions of Cancer and Heart disease, and a waiver of premium for 5 years from the date of diagnosis of both, the first and second minor condition of these ailments.