I'm sure you've seen articles touting critical illness insuranceas one of the fastest growing voluntary products. Let's discusssome drivers of its growth.

Medical plan gaps have received a great deal ofattention as deductibles have been rising due to the trend towardhigh-deductible health care plans. PPACA-related medical insuranceplan designs often leave the insured with significant out-of-pocketmedical expenses. The awareness of these gaps is often cited as aprimary driver of the need for CI: In the event of a criticalillness, the out-of-pocket expense maximum is likely to be reachedimmediately, and CI fills the gap.

Uncovered medical expenses include the extra cost ofgoing outside a health care plan's network or authorized coverage.My wife's best friend is an example. She had an aggressive form ofcancer but her primary care physician didn't authorize thetreatment plan she felt would be best. So she decided to go to theMayo Clinic for a second opinion. They agreed with her and she hada procedure outside her plan's coverage. Fortunately, she was ableto convince her insurance plan to extend coverage, but many are notso fortunate. CI can help here, and as we look forward to theincreasing focus of medical plans on narrow networks, this need islikely to grow.