A chronic illness is a type of disease that has persistent and long-lasting human health problems. It is often diagnosed when a disease lasts for more than three months.
Common chronic illness include arthritis, asthma, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, Lyme disease, and viral diseases (i.e., hepatitis C, AIDS, etc).
It is possible for a terminal illness to become a chronic illness. For example, diabetes and HIV were defined as terminal illnesses before, but they are now considered as chronic illness due to the availability of insulin and individual daily drug treatment, respectively.
Contrary to acute illness, a chronic illness commonly affects multiple areas of the body, and is not apparently responsive to treatments but instead persists for fairly a long period of time. Sometimes, the chronic illness condition may temporarily goes away and then subsequently re-appears.
Although chronic illnesses are generally categorized as non-communicable diseases (There're still certain chronic illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, are caused by transmissible infections.), patients who are diagnosed with chronic conditions may spread the negative spirits or emotions to people around (especially their families) largely because of the long-term financial impacts. A survey showed that 72% (out of 1017 people responded) people admit that they feel dependent on others after diagnosed with chronic illnesses.
This becomes a rising topic during the COVID-19 pandemic as it will incur chronic health deficiency, as it is a derivative of the famous severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). A pro-active financial plan is essential as the cost of chronic illness shall be a big amount.
National Life Group has an indexed universal life product, called Living Life by Design, offers a well financial protection to chronic illness patients and their family. Qualification writes:
"A doctor has certified, within the past 12 months, that one is unable to perform two out of six 'activities of daily living' for a period of at least 90 consecutive days without assistance, or that one is generally cognitively impaired.
Activities of Daily Living are:
Bathing
Continence
Dressing
Eating
Toileting
Transferring
With "Living Life by Design", in order to receive the benefit, the rider generally needs to be in force for a period of 30 days. There is an annual limit on the amount of benefits the insured can receive. There is also a lifetime limit on the amount of benefits an insured can receive across all Accelerated Benefits Riders (riders for the living benefits provision).
KEY FACTS:
According to CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), approximately 40% of adults in the United States have at least two chronic conditions.
WHO (World Health Organization) attributes 41 million deaths a year to non-communicable diseases.
[updated on 12/19/2020 at 10:06 am ET]
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