← All terms

Health · Chapter 13 · Limited Policies — Illness Only

Critical Illness Policy

Definition
Pays a LUMP SUM directly to the insured upon diagnosis AND survival of a covered critical illness — typically heart attack, stroke, organ transplant, or end-stage renal failure (some cover Alzheimer's or permanent loss of eyesight). Policies may require surviving the illness for a set period (e.g., 30 days).
In plain English
Get diagnosed, survive the waiting period, receive one check — spend it on anything: medical gaps or the mortgage.
Exam tip
Dread disease = SCHEDULED amounts per procedure for ONE named disease · Critical illness = one LUMP SUM on diagnosis of a listed condition.
Easy to confuse with

These are what this term gets tested against — if you can't tell them apart cold, drill the contrast.

Related terms
Drill this termChapter lessonChapter practice test
Verified against primary sources · 2026-08-07