Taking care of one’s own health is not simply a necessity but also a duty to those who are often completely dependent on a primary income earner in a household. Regular check-ups, maintained doctor consultations should be a recurrent activity in every person’s life. It is necessary to have clarity about one’s health, and in that pursuit a robust health insurance policy can be a good support in the event of medical expenditure that may be financially stressful for the person.
A health insurance policy is an insurance instrument that covers the medical expenditure incurred during hospitalization, and costs incurred after the patient is discharged as well. It is a standard policy is structured and offered in many policy types by insurance providers according to age groups and family needs. Looking through various options for health insurance in India, one may find the ideal health insurance policy for themselves and their dependents offered by providers such as an individual health plan, a family plan, senior citizen coverage and even critical illness health insurance plans and more. One can get in touch with their financial advisors to understand the features and clauses for each plan and the documents required for health insurance.
It is essential to invest a health insurance policy as it offers comprehensive coverage against high hospitalization costs, ambulance transit fees, and may also include pre and post-op care. According to the necessities of the policyholder, they can avail provisions such as cancer insurance benefits and a sum assured if they are incapacitated by illness and require an income replacement to sustain their dependents and expenses. Now that the fundamentals of a health insurance policy have been established, let us look at the reasons why investing in a health insurance policy is crucial:
- Rising Medical Costs: Healthcare and medical expenses can be financially stressful, be it for oneself or family that is dependent on them. With the additional margins of inflation that persist in medicine and hospitalization costs alongside the rise in various diseases; one has to find the ideal health insurance policy in India and their ideal version of a health insurance coverage plan that can navigate the expenses and high costs of treatment while safeguarding themselves from exhausting one’s future savings towards treatments.
- Financial Backup: A health insurance policy strives to provide financial support to the insured at a time when they are already vulnerable from illness or injury. The monetary benefits that they thus receive from their provider can be a helpful lifeboat to their dependents in the event that they cease to be able to earn a steady income. The reimbursements that are processed to the policyholder by the insurance providers has to be adequate to cover the expensive procedures along with post-care for the policyholder. Hence one should go for the best health insurance policy which has a minimum 10 lac sum assured since medical costs have inflation margins that increase exponentially.
Before selecting health insurance plans one should determine the scope of coverage they may require in the long term. The policy which usually have coverage benefits such as covering hospitalization, critical illness and maternity and more can have certain capping and coverage exceptions which should be carefully looked while investing.
- Lifestyle-Related Diseases: The risk of being diagnosed with lifestyle-caused illnesses are on the rise today, as the high-compartmentalised and high-stress environments most individuals work in manifest themselves an unavoidable illnesses that detrimental to the health of the suffering but also the people who are financially dependent on them.
Individuals who are highly conscious of their health while keeping strict diets and regimens are also prone to medical conditions that may be critical or fatal in nature. Health insurance in India was therefore structured by insurance providers as a means for people to combat possibilities while being prepared for the future. Critical illness insurance is one of the most frequently invested in, where people insure themselves against illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, kidney failure etc.
- Abundance of Coverage Options: Depending upon the age or family requirements of a policyholder, a policyholder has the option to invest in a health insurance policy that is best suited for them. Since senior citizens are more likely to have recurrent medical expenses, they should go for senior citizen health insurance since they offer higher coverage. There are other policy types such as individual health insurance, family floater plans and critical illness cover.
- Cashless Hospitalization: In cashless claims and hospitalization, after the insured sends a claim request to the insurance provider with the help of the partner hospital; the insurance provider settles all bills and expenses directly with the hospital. The important thing to note here is that the cashless facility can only be availed by the insured at a partner hospital (these are listed by the provider at the time of policy purchase).
- Pre/Post Hospitalization Costs: One should look out for health insurance plans which allow one to have extensive cover over not just hospitalisations, but also tests, doctor consultations and medicines.
The process of choosing health insurance plans can be streamlined by duly researching the insurance solutions available to invest in and putting a thorough check with all term, conditions, and exclusions that an insurance plan may have and compare those with their needs.