The Dread Disease Benefit Explained

The Dread Disease benefit is designed to offer extra cover for major critical illnesses that can't adequately be covered by the Illness Hospitalisation Benefit alone.

It offers stated amounts to cover medical expenses for specific critical illnesses. It is available once per member per policy lifetime. This means that the chosen limits are available once per member and do not reinstate each year.

Standardised Critical Illness Definitions (SCIDEP) staging will apply and is explained below.

SCIDEP staging applies to certain critical illnesses and defines the severity of the illness. The benefit then covers treatment according to that stage:

• Stage 4 (most severe): 100% of the available benefit
  
• Stage 2: 75% of the available benefit
  
• Stage 2: 50% of the available benefit
  
• Stage 1 (lease severe): 25% of the available benefit
  

For example, if a member is diagnosed with Stage 2 cancer, then 50% of the available benefit can be used for treatment leaving the remaining 50% to cover future events for that member.

The Dread Disease benefit includes cover for the 8 most common critical illnesses:

• Heart Attacks
  
• Chronic Coronary Heart Disease (CCHD)
  
• Strokes
  
• Cancer
  
• Kidney Failure
  
• Major organ transplants for kidney, heart, lung, liver, pancreas or bone marrow
  
• Paraplegia in both arms or both legs (owing to illness not accident)
  

• Total Blindness (owing to illness not accident)

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There is a 12 month waiting period before any new member on a policy can claim under this benefit.

Yes. In general, all hospital related claims need to be authorised first.

Authorisation is a simple procedure where the administrator and the hospital determine:

• if the procedure you need is covered by your policy
• if you have available amounts left over after previous claims

The authorisation procedure is described on the Claims page.