Wealth is a hedge that provides coverage for illness (9)
I believe the answer is:
affluence
'wealth' is the definition.
(I know that affluence is a type of wealth)
'a hedge that provides coverage for illness' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' is within the answer.
'illness' could be 'flu' (flu is a kind of illness) and 'flu' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'fence' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'is' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for affluence that I've seen before include "being loaded" , "Wealth - abundance" , "Prosperity or wealth" , "Fortune" , "Abundant wealth" .)