Health insurance to manage high cost of medical treatment in India
The benefits of health insurance are not unknown to anyone. The illness can come to anyone without notice. The cost of hospitalization can ruin your lifetime savings. Many times, hospitalization bills are as high as your annual salary. Hence, it is essential to avail health insurance to protect your financials. You can avail quality medical treatment without huge expenditure by paying a small annual premium. Below are the key considerations before you can decide the right medical insurance policy for you.
The coverage
There is no point in availing Rs. 50,000 mediclaim amount when your medical bills is Rs. 10 lacs ! Nowadays, the cost of hospitalization is very high. You may have to pay around rupees five lacs for nominal heart surgery. The covid treatment also costs about rupees five to ten lacs depending on severity of the symptoms and city of treatment. It is recommended to avail enough cover for you and your family. You can consider the factors like medical history, your profession, family circumstances and other similar factors to decide the right coverage (sum insured) of your medical insurance.
The scope
Usually, your medical insurance does not cover any pre-existing disease. There is a waiting period of 1-3 years before you can avail the benefit of certain diseases. It is advisable to avail the comprehensive health insuranceplan at a young age, so you don’t have to exclude any disease and you can pass the waiting period in the young and healthy phase of life. In today’s pandemic situation, you can ensure that Covid treatment is part of your medical policy.
Family Floater Plans
The family floater plans are very cost effective when you calculate the per member cost of insurance. Moreover, you don’t have to manage individual policy for each member of the family. You can include your spouse, children and dependent parents under a single policy of family floater plan. Any member of the family can avail the benefit in case of hospitalization.
Hospital Network
The basic purpose to avail medical policy is to keep ourselves free from financial stress in the difficult time. Nowadays, most health insurance companies have tie-ups with major hospitals in the city for cashless facilities. In such a case, you don’t have to pay the medical bill to the hospital. Upon hospitalization, you have to present your health policy to the hospital administration. The hospital sends the estimated expenses to the insurance company for approval. Once approved, your treatment starts immediately and the bill is directly paid by the insurance company to the hospital. Make sure that your insurance company has enough hospitals in its network list to avail cashless treatment.
Claim Settlement Ratio
The health insurance should come to your rescue when there is a need to file a claim. There is no use of a low-premium mediclaim policy that does not pay when you are hospitalized. The reputed insurance company honors genuine claims. IRDA has made it mandatory for every insurance company to declare a “Claim Settlement Ratio” periodically. It is recommended to check the ratio for the last five years before you finalize your health insurer. Companies like Bharti Axa and HDFC Ergo have gained the reputation to settle the majority of the claims in recent years.
Tax Benefit
The purpose of health insurance should not be aimed at tax saving. It is recommended to choose the mediclaim policy based on your medical history, age and family circumstances. However, to encourage health and safety of citizens in the country, the government provides you tax benefit under section 80D. Depending on your age and your parent’s age, you can get the deduction from your income upto Rs. 1 lacs. This benefit is in addition to the tax benefits under section 80C. Hence, indirectly your cost of premium reduces to the extent of tax saving.
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