'If you die at 30, life insurance was more important, but if you get a critical illness at 55, or 45, when you are at the peak of your earning ability and have an operation and live another ten to twenty years, then Critical Illness Insurance was more important,' said Dr. Barnard, who created the first critical illness policy in 1983.

I believe that the critical illness coverage is considerably superior when your workability and ability to pay for your financial demands deteriorates.'

This viewpoint is supported by a substantially greater national life expectancy and quickly increasing medical research that allows for the diagnosis of formerly deadly illnesses and the extension of the patient's life. A patient diagnosed with a severe disease who lives for another twenty years would be eligible for a payment under their critical illness insurance policy that they would not get under their life insurance policy.

Over the past several years, critical illness insurance had grown in breadth and popularity, now covering 58 diseases, up from four when it was initially introduced. Necessary illness insurance currently covers an estimated 12 million people and children, including functional disorders like multiple sclerosis.

However, there have been several tales in the news of policyholders whose insurers have denied critical illness coverage. Last summer, the BBC's One Show conducted an investigation. They revealed that many ailments that policyholders thought were not covered and that the plans required careful medical records to be preserved.

So, how was the conversation handled?

'It's no small effort remembering every single visit to the doctor - but that's what insurance companies require you to do when filling out a critical illness form - and it's the type of question that's catching a lot of people off guard,' a spokeswoman for the program said. The first thing to remember is that insurance companies are for-profit businesses. You must ensure that you've covered all of your bases before becoming unwell, rather than expecting the corporation to help you when calamity hits.'

Dr. Barnard quickly points out the amount of successful critical illness insurance payouts: 'All I hear when I go around here is that 20% of critical illness claims go unpaid.' However, the truth is that 80% of them are compensated. Statistics such as 20% of claims not being paid aren't entirely accurate since 20% of shares should be rejected because they don't meet the requirements.'

He's also laid out what he'd want to see changed in the form and structure of critical illness insurance. Currently, the holder receives a lump-sum payment upon diagnosis. Still, Dr. Barnard would instead that money be paid out in phases as the disease progresses: 'Diagnosis is improving, and most patients get treatment and then leave. If they continue to get full payment upon diagnosis, the coverage will grow so costly that it will be unaffordable for those who need it.

is MS classed as a critical illness? MS is a chronic, often disabling disease of the central nervous system. It is characterized by the destruction of the myelin sheath around neurons. The word MS comes from multiple sclerosis, which means "scattered patches."