Critical illness insurance has been called “lottery insurance.” That’s because the insured, by selecting the product, effectively lays a bet on the possibility of contracting a life-threatening illness and remaining alive for at least 30 days, under most policies, following diagnosis.

But the odds of contracting a critical illness are certainly better than they are of holding a winning lottery ticket. For example, one in three people will die of heart disease, two in five Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer and approximately one in four will die of these conditions.

In these situations, “winning” is no cause for celebration.

Many Canadians may not consider obtaining CI coverage because of the public health-care system, life insurance and long-term disability plans. What many fail to consider are the additional costs that serious illness often entail and which are not covered adequately by these more familiar safety nets.

It’s important for those considering CI coverage to understand the relatively high risk of falling prey to one of the major illnesses that are the leading causes of death among mid-life adults in Canada. The major events covered are heart attack, stroke, cancer, major organ transplant, paralysis, multiple sclerosis, kidney disease, heart valve replacement and surgery of the aorta.

Here are a number of reasons why clients may want to consider CI insurance:

> Heart And Stroke. Not only are heart disease and stroke combined the leading cause of death among Canadians, they are also the leading cause of hospitalization, accounting for more than 15% of 2.9 million hospitalizations in 2004. That year, 32% of Canadian deaths were caused by cardiovascular disease. It is the No. 1 killer of women.

While there are some 70,000 heart attacks a year, only 19,000 are fatal, which means that 51,000 people survive to address the consequences of a lengthy illness, such as hospital bills and medical costs not covered by the public health-are system, demanding rehabilitation and missed work.

Although 14,000 Canadians die of strokes every year, as many as 36,000 survive. Many are left with troublesome residual affects caused by brain damage, including impaired motor skills such as partial paralysis or impaired cognitive skills such as problems with speech, reading and writing.

> Cancer. Prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women, along with lung and colorectal cancers, are the most common types of cancer diagnosed, accounting for 55% of new cases, says the Canadian Cancer Society (www.cancer.ca) . Mortality rates for all cancers are on the decline, however, as is the incidence of cancer, especially in men. However, that is cold comfort for an aging population. The likelihood of contracting cancer is highest among Canadians between the ages of 70 and 89. But almost a third of new cases and 18% of deaths occur in Canadians aged 20 to 59, the period when people expect be healthy.

Regardless of the result, cancer treatment is a long and demanding process. Depending on the type of cancer, rounds of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery — not to mention, complications — can take a year or more to endure and recover from. And as the five-year survival rate for cancer increases, the need to plan for life after the illness also increases.

> Multiple Sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is most likely an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks the protein myelin, which sheaths nerves, resulting in the degeneration of the nervous system. Not only does the disease affect motor skills, reducing dexterity and, in some cases, forcing afflicted individuals to rely on walkers and eventually wheelchairs, multiple sclerosis gradually begins to affect cognitive abilities. In the later stages of the disease, patients tend to rely on caregivers.

Canada has one of the highest incidences of multiple sclerosis in the world. According to estimates from the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, (www.mssociety.ca), there are between 55,000 and 75,000 cases of multiple sclerosis in Canada, and there are approximately 1,000 new cases every year. The presence of the disease varies by region, and frequency ranges from 240 cases per 100,000 to 350 cases per 100,000. That means that seven people in two thousand will have to learn to live with the disease.

> Kidney Disease. In 2005, more than 30,000 Canadians relied on dialysis treatment to stay alive; more than 1.9 million Canadians had some form of chronic kidney disease. The vast majority are seniors — one in five Canadians over the age of 65. In most cases, kidney disease is a complication that arises as a result of another condition, usually diabetes or cardiovascular disorders. But its consequences can be just as deadly. But it can be prevented or, at the very least, staved off for some time by a healthy lifestyle.

@page_break@When it does hit, it is devastating. Kidney disease progresses silently because the symptoms — lack of energy and lethargy are the most prevalent — are easily dismissed. But if the kidneys fail, a patient will only last a matter of days or weeks without dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Dialysis requires spending several hours a day in a hospital, attached to a machine. It is only effective for so long: for seniors, an average of three years while waiting for a transplant. The transplant itself is a very demanding process and the supply of organs is much lower than demand. IE