Critical illness cover is complementary to health insurance and protects you against expenses towards the treatment of critical illnesses specified in your policy. You can avail this as a lump sum benefit or as a reimbursement of expenses towards treatment in a hospital. This can be used for treatment, recuperation aids, and compensation for loss of income. The benefits accrue after the survival period of 30 days from the first year of the policy. The critical illness sum insured is separate from that available via the hospitalization benefit in your policy. Most insurers cover a long list of critical illnesses including cancer, first heart attack, kidney failure, organ transplantation, terminal illnesses and many more. With critical illnesses in the rise, it is worthwhile to cover the risk of high medical costs by getting critical illness cover. Please compare health insurance online to get the exact list from the insurer.