Is Health Insurance Worth Investing?
Investing in health is one of the wisest decisions one can make. No one knows when tables turn and you encounter an urgent need for money. It is apparent that health is wealth, so to keep your health stable for a long time, you must have good health insurance ready for the bad times. Health or medical insurance is an agreement where an insurance provider agrees to reimburse for medical costs incurred by the policyholder during the policy’s tenure.
An effective medical insurance policy is crucial as the prices of medicines and hospital treatments are rising daily. If any untold problems happen to you, be it an accident or an illness, it will cause a substantial financial burden on you and your family. At the same time, the hard-hitting truth is that your trip to the hospital could become an unpleasant surprise at any point in life. And, indeed, it would cost you heavily. In this article, you will find out the reasons why you should invest in medical insurance plans.
Related Aspects of Health Insurance
Health or medical insurance basically helps you to cope with the medical expenses if you get ill or meet with an unfortunate accident that requires treatment at the hospital. Besides this, an insurance plan helps you stay covered against various diseases. Additionally, it is beneficial to boost tax savings and the government of India validates that under section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Hence, you can claim tax benefits against your insurance premium.
It is essential to have an insurance policy these days so keep reading to find the extended details.
Perks of Health Insurance
We will first look at the perks or benefits of this insurance and see whether it’s worth investing in. With the increasing healthcare expenses, access to the required and quality medical treatment is financially devastating. Therefore, to protect your family and you from these expenses, you should get everyone insured under a good insurance plan. We have detailed out the top benefits below:
The Hospitalisation Expenses
An insurance plan covers all the medical expenses incurred on hospital admission for more than 24 hours. The hospitalisation expenses include room rent, doctor’s fees, medicine costs, diagnostic test charges, and more.
Pre & Post Hospitalisation Expenses
This covers the medical expenses you may have incurred on an illness before getting hospitalised and follow-up treatment charges that are managed after getting discharged. Further, the pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses are covered for a fixed number of days, as mentioned in the policy terms and conditions.
The ICU Charges – An insurance plan also covers the cost of getting treatment in an ICU ward during hospitalisation.
The Ambulance Charges – This covers the charges of ambulance services that you would avail for reaching the nearest hospital at the time of a medical emergency.
The Cashless Treatments – All the medical insurance providers in India offer cashless treatment facilities at their known and network hospitals. Further, you don’t have to worry about arranging money to pay the hospital bills if you get admitted to a network hospital. Also, your insurer will settle it under cashless claims and settlements.
Day Care Procedures – This facility covers the cost of providing day care treatment that requires hospitalisation for less than 24 hours.
Medical Check-Ups – Most healthcare insurance companies in India provide the insured with free preventive health check-up facilities at regular intervals, depending on the policy terms and conditions.
Features of Health Insurance
Although the perks of life insurance are abundant, being careful is highly crucial. So, there are various features that you need to consider before deciding on a policy. We have portrayed all the factors that will give you the right direction in making a choice. Let us now have a look at them:
The Sub-Limits on Room Rent
Certain insurance companies have a feature of sub-limits on the room rents. This indicates that there is a maximum amount that an insurance company will be paying in case of a claim. Usually, this limit is up to 1% of the sum insured and a maximum of 2% in case of ICU expenses. On the contrary, several general insurance companies offer plans without any sub-limit on room rent. Hence, it is better to go for such plans.
Pre-Existing Diseases
Pre-existing diseases are those that you have suffered before buying a medical insurance policy. Hence the plans come with a waiting period instead of offering cover from day one. During this entire waiting period, no claims are admissible for the policy. Therefore, you must go for an insurance policy with a minimum waiting period.
Co-Payment
Co-payment comes into play when the insurance company and policyholder share the cost in case a claim pops up. A co-payment can be decided in the form of a percentage or an amount. Therefore, you need to take care of your savings and choose an insurance policy without co-payment features.
Network Hospitals
The network hospitals are the hospitals that have tie-ups with insurance companies where the insured can get treatment without paying anything at the hospital. The benefit of availing of cashless treatment comes along with this feature. Basically, if a policy does not offer this feature, you will have to pay the expenses on your own. Further, the insurance company will repay you for the same gradually.
Likewise, when choosing an insurance company, go with the one with a high number of network hospitals nearby your place of residence.
The Claim Process of Health Insurance
The smoother the claim settlement of a medical insurance company is, the better it would be for the insured person. Also, if the insurance company is not good at handling the claims of the policyholder, then having a health policy would be a waste. You will have to seek good customer support, which would be an additional benefit.
Family Members to be Covered
You should consider the family members you want coverage for. Under the family floater insurance plans, you can see plans that cover you, your spouse, children, parents, and grandparents. Further, you must also keep their age, present health issues, and family medical history in mind. Also, before purchasing the policy, you must be aware of any pre-existing conditions and share them with the company. Hence, select a policy covering all of them at an affordable premium amount.
Sum Insured
You must choose the sum insured with scrutiny as it covers you and your loved ones for medical expenses incurred during the term of the policy. Also, you should look at your income and age to decide the sum insured under your medical insurance policy. Further, ensure that you choose a sum that is sufficient and doesn’t have a high premium.
Add-on Benefits and Coverage Benefits of Health Insurance
The add-ons are additional benefits that come with your insurance policy for extensive coverage. You can also choose them willingly by paying an extra premium at the time of purchase.
One of the important factors that you need to consider is coverage benefits. Different plans come with varying coverage features, which you should choose as per your requirement. Expected coverage benefits under insurance plans include in-patient hospitalisation expenses. The pre-hospitalisation, and post-hospitalisation expenses, road ambulance expenses, and daycare expenses are also covered in the benefits.
Lifetime Renewability Perk & Free Medical Check-Ups
The chances of getting ill and sick during old age are much higher, and if you get a new insurance policy at that time, it will cost you comparatively more. Therefore, you should choose a health policy that comes with a lifetime renewability perk.
Most health or medical insurance plans cover you for free medical check-ups. You need to check the same before selecting a policy.
Waiting Period & Premium
The waiting period is generally the time when an insurance company does not cover you. You must select a policy with the least or minimum waiting period. There are various waiting periods, such as initial waiting period and waiting period for pre-existing illnesses. There is also a waiting period for specified conditions, and so on. So, you should have information and be aware of all these before finalising a policy.
You must choose an insurance policy that comes at an affordable premium. If you have a premium, continue the procedure for a long time without any financial strain. Although, choosing a medical insurance policy with a low premium is not always advisable because it may not get you enough coverage in an emergency.
Type of Health Insurance Policy
To identify which kind of insurance policy you want for yourself or your loved ones, you must evaluate your needs extensively. Further, you can choose from different types of insurance plans that are available in the market. The types include individual, family floater, and senior citizen medical insurance plans. Well, the list just does not end with the plans mentioned above. There are critical illness insurance plans, maternity insurance plans, and children’s insurance plans. You will also find disease-specific plans and more.
The Exclusions
Exclusions are known as the conditions for which you cannot get a claim under your insurance policy. Hence, while choosing a policy, you must opt for the one with the least number of exclusions. Some standard exclusions are treatments for self-harm, treatment for participation in adventure sports, etc.
Conclusion
Having health insurance is the most sensible investment that one can make. The perks certainly overshadow every myth in this arena. After going through this article, you must have gained the necessary knowledge about this insurance. There are various companies that provide the best insurance in India. You can get these benefits from medical insurance companies like SBI, Star, LIC, ICICI, and more.
We aim to cover all the perks and essential points of health or medical insurance. We have already discussed that health is wealth, and considering today’s scenario, both health and wealth are equally important. Hence, go through different insurance plans available online and offline and those mentioned above. Avail of your plan today!
