Health Insurance will considerably reduce the stress related to arranging money at such times, helping you focus on the treatment better.
Good health is among the most precious thing you can inherit from your parents. If you have high immunity, no chronic disease and a good digestive system, a major chunk of the credit goes to your DNA and a disciplined lifestyle that you most probably follow. On the other side, we cannot ignore that lifestyle diseases—mostly due to excessive stress levels, sedentary lifestyle and imbalanced diet—are rising at an alarming rate in India. A medical emergency can strike at any time, even if you are the fittest member of your family. It is wise to get a health insurance policy in advance to secure yourself and your family members financially during a medical crisis. Some of the major advantages of health insurance policy are:
Financial protection
You cannot predict a chronic medical problem. Apart from getting immediate medical attention, the next thought to come to you would most likely be about arranging the funds for the treatment, hospitalisation costs, tests and diagnostics, and so on. If you have a family floater or individual health insurance policy, your insurer will take care of the medical bills, and with the cashless facility, you would not have to pay anything out of your pocket. Health Insurance will considerably reduce the stress related to arranging money at such times, helping you focus on the treatment better.
Additional medical cover
You may have a health cover from your employer that includes you and your family members, but it may not be sufficient in the face of an emergency. You would be covered only until you are an employee. If you change the job, you will lose the cover. An additional health policy purchased from a reliable insurer would ensure there is no shortfall of finance for the treatment.
Option of cashless or reimbursement facility
Cashless facilities are an excellent feature of health policies. You can avail treatment at any of the network hospitals of your insurer in India. You only need to inform your insurer and the TPA (Third Party Administrator) at the earliest if you know the tentative hospitalisation date in case of a planned surgery or diagnosis. The insurer will then settle the bill amount with the hospital directly.
Alternately, you can get treated at any hospital or by a healthcare provider as per your choice and file for a reimbursement claim. You will need to share original invoices and related documents with the insurer, and they’ll reimburse your expenses if it is a valid claim.
Maternity benefits
Several policies cover maternity expenses. This is beneficial for young couples who are planning or expecting a child. The cost of treatment and delivery related to childbirth can be quite high depending upon the hospital. A policy with maternity benefit can cover these for a normal delivery or caesarean section up to the coverage limits.
Alternative treatment
Nowadays, costs for alternative treatments such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Homeopathy (AYUSH), wellness programs and Naturopathy are also covered under health policies. You can avail any of these treatments, and your health insurance policy will pay for it.
Day care and domiciliary treatments
Day care treatments are surgeries and procedures that do not need hospitalisation for 24 hours, for example, cataract removal. Domiciliary treatments consist of treatment at home under the doctor’s advice, such as that for a bone fracture. A health policy can take care of both of these for you.
Other facilities
Pre and post-hospitalisation medical expenses are covered up to a certain period by health insurance policies. That’s not it. Health insurance also pays for your on-road ambulance services and transfer by air ambulance for critical patients up to a substantial amount. Many insurers cover expenses for online consultations, second opinion and harvesting a major organ from a donor. Some of them even offer lifetime renewability feature and free annual health check-ups to the policyholders.
Health booster policy
Health Booster is a top-up plan that covers the gap when your existing insurance policy coverage is inadequate to cover the total treatment costs. A health booster policy provides a higher sum insured at a low premium. It boosts the existing policy without putting pressure on your budget. The coverage and terms of the plan vary from insurer to insurer.
Tax benefits
According to Section 80D of the Income Tax Act,1961 , you can avail tax deductions on the premium paid for health policies up to a certain amount.
Thus, a health insurance policy in India has a bouquet of benefits for people of all age groups, starting from newborns to senior citizens. Choose a health plan based on your requirements and budget, and go stress-free.
