Medical insurance acts as a protective shield and keeps not only your health safe but takes care of your hard-earned money as well. Considering the steep rise in the medical sector, we can say that health insurance has become a necessity for every individual.
In this article, we will highlight the essential aspects of the importance of medical or health insurance.
Undergoing any treatment for the long term may eventually prove to be quite overwhelming, especially in the long run. However, if you pay a budget-friendly amount to your chosen insurer, you can ensure quality healthcare services and facilities without worrying about finances.
Need for maintaining health insurance
Considering today's fast and stressful lifestyle, we can witness the steady rise of several ailments, especially lifestyle-related ones. A competent health insurance plan will safeguard your finances related to the treatment(s) and ensure easy availability of quality healthcare facilities across the country.
The top 3 reasons for maintaining competent health insurance are:
1). Not to Worry About Finances
Considering the skyrocketing medical costs, a couple of days of hospitalisation is enough to deplete a significant portion of your savings. It becomes a major setback for most Indian families. However, if you possess medical insurance, you need not have to worry about these aspects.
2). Steadily Rising Healthcare Costs
The inflation in the medical and healthcare sector is one of the highest. In India, considering the current scenario, it is expected to double the total inflation rate. If you need to keep yourself considerably shielded from such heat, maintaining a proper medical insurance policy is the only plausible solution.
3). Comprehensive Hospitalisation
When any patient is hospitalised, the expenses are not exclusively related to hospital costs. It includes surgery costs(if applicable), consultation fees, nursing charges, room rent, medicine costs, diagnostic costs, ambulance charges, organ donor charges (if applicable), etc. A fixed-benefit health policy will not even ask for every detail of the treatment course, it will pay the designated amount to the beneficiary on the initial diagnosis of any particular ailment.
Benefits of Maintaining Health Insurance
Maintaining competent medical insurance has become a necessity, especially when we are witnessing medical inflation reaching new heights each day. Some of the most highlighting benefits of having medical insurance include the following:
Hospitalisation cost coverage: Any standard health insurance plan allows hospitalisation cost coverage up to a specified limit. These costs include consultation costs, medicine costs, diagnostic charges, room rent, nursing charges, etc.
Pre- and post-hospitalisation coverage: Most health insurance allows pre- and post-hospitalisation costs up to a predetermined tenure. It remains mentioned in the policy documents. You must be aware of these details before getting a claim settlement.
Daycare coverage: Daycare denotes hospitalisation for less than 24 hours. A prime example of this is cataract surgery. The market is loaded with health insurance products that cover daycare hospitalisation.
Domiciliary treatment coverage: The beneficiary's health condition might not support shifting to the hospital. Under such circumstances, the treatment continues at home under the doctor's supervision. It is termed domiciliary treatment. Several health insurance products offer coverage for such treatment procedures.
Alternative treatment coverage: Depending on the terms of the chosen health insurance plan, alternative treatment cost coverage is also available. Alternative treatments include Ayurvedic, Siddha, homoeopathy, Unani, and yoga, collectively termed as AYUSH.
Annual health check-up coverage: Several health insurance companies offer the provision of free annual health check-ups. This may result in the early detection of the onset of any ailment, resulting in quick action.
Critical illness coverage rider: You can purchase an additional rider along with your base plan to cover critical illnesses. Each insurance company maintains a separate set of critical ailments. If you are diagnosed with any of those listed ailments, you will receive insurance coverage for the treatment.
Cashless treatment facility: Health insurance providers allow cashless treatment facilities at network hospitals throughout the country. The more the number of network hospitals, the better the chances of utilising your medical insurance across the country without any hassle.
Reimbursement of ambulance costs: Most health insurance providers offer ambulance cost coverage up to INR 3000 for each hospitalisation.
Tax benefit: Apart from all the above-mentioned benefits, this is one of the most significant. Health insurance saves your health As well as your money in more than one way. Section 80D of the IT Act of 1961 allows provision for tax benefits for premiums paid towards health insurance. The limit of the tax deduction for health insurance of an individual, spouse, children, and parents can go up to INR 50000. If the parents are senior citizens and age 60 years or above, then this limit can extend up to INR 75000 for each financial year.
Waiting Period
This is a crucial aspect to consider while purchasing any health insurance plan. The waiting period for any ailment denotes a specific time frame before which any treatment cost for the specified ailment will not be covered by your chosen plan. This period varies from insurer to insurer and product to product. You must clarify it well before purchasing and proceeding further.
Adding more members to an existing health insurance
Yes, depending on the terms of your chosen medical insurance, you can add up to four children, spouses, parents, and even your parents-in-law to your existing health insurance plan.
Significant features of health insurance
Some of the most important features of health insurance policy include:
Pre- and post-hospitalisation cost
Hospitalisation coverage
Ambulance coverage
Cashless treatment facilities across the country
Room rent coverage
Diagnostic test cover
Medicine cost coverage
AYUSH cover depending on the plan terms
Tax benefits
Daycare facilities, etc.
Conclusion
We have aptly highlighted the importance of maintaining health insurance. In today's world, having a health insurance policy is not a luxury any more, it has become a significant necessity. It is a protective shield that keeps your health safe along with your finances. Moreover, medical insurance even allows tax benefits for each financial year.
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