Health Insurance – In a family with a normal income, if a person develops a major health problem, the situation becomes dire. Where will the collected money for treatment come from? This is the biggest question of the match now.
Health Insurance makes your work easy in this situation. If you have health insurance in advance, you can get timely treatment for any sudden illness. The insurance company pays for your treatment, check-up and maintenance expenses.
In this article, we will understand what is health insurance? what is health insurance benifits ?
What is Health Insurance ?
Health insurance is such an insurance policy, on which you get the payment of medical expenses from the insurance company if you fall ill or if your family members fall ill. Everything from hospitalization, doctor’s consultation fees, cost of tests and medicines and cost of nursing and maintenance, etc. is covered by health insurance.
How the insurance company pays for your treatment? In case of health insurance, after the treatment, the amount of his payment can be according to the negotiation with the insurance company, hospital and doctors. You can get paid for this in two ways-
- Either you pay the cost of the treatment yourself first and the insurance company reimburses it later when you pay the bills.
- Or the insurance company pays the bill of treatment directly to that hospital. where you or any member of your family has been treated.
Types of health insurance policies
There are many types of health insurance plans, depending on the features and accessibility available in them. We are here introducing the main types prevalent in India-
Plans that pay for treatment expenses
In Hospitalization plans, out of the expenses incurred on the treatment of the insured person, a pre-determined amount is paid by the insurance company. Because of this specialty, such insurance plans are called indemnity plans (compensation/damage or compensation plan). It is beneficial in treating any type of disease or health problem.
In case of certain fatal diseases, the benefit of the health insurance policy is available only once. But most diseases can be treated several times. You can avail the benefits up to the limit of the insurance policy.
Plan for the treatment of critical diseases
In these, you are given a lump sum amount on the identification of some pre-determined serious diseases and for their treatment procedures. Such diseases, which are very fatal, such as heart attack, cancer, paralysis etc. Their treatment is very costly.
Which diseases are to be included in your health insurance policy is decided in the beginning itself. Your policy is made according to the severity of the disease and its frequency and its premium is fixed. Thus, these are benefit-based health insurance plans.
Individual or family wise plans
You can take a combined family health insurance policy for the whole family. The treatment of any family member will be covered under the stipulated insurance coverage. Its premiums are cheaper. Or you can take individual health policy for any one member of the family, or for different members.
Daily Payment Plans
Under the Daily cash benefit plan, you get a fixed amount of assistance on a daily basis during the course of treatment. Irrespective of how much or less the expenditure is at the time of your admission.
For example, a person has taken a defined benefit policy of only Rs.1500. Now, if ever he is admitted, Rs 2000 is being spent daily on his treatment, then he will get only Rs 1500 per day. On the other hand, even if he is facing an expenditure of Rs.1000, he will still get Rs.1500 as a help.
What are the benefits of health insurance?
Health insurance helps you to meet the cost of treatment in case of a sudden critical illness. Apart from this, many reasons can be counted, which make health insurance essential for you-
Solution to ever-increasing cost of treatment
Due to lack of physical labor activities and increasing dependence on technology, people have started falling sick more. The medical expenses for new diseases are also increasing rapidly. Its growth has been consistent in double digits (above 10 per cent) for recent decades.
While the increase in prices of food and other essential items of life has been limited to units (between 0 and 9 per cent). The increasing cost of treatment and medicines, sometimes goes out of the capacity of a common man. In such a situation, having health insurance comes as a great help for him.
There is no burden of one-time payment
In the event of a sudden illness, it is not easy to raise a lump sum amount for treatment. Especially for the elderly, it is even more important. Because with increasing age, the attack of diseases occurs in a more dangerous manner.
And happens frequently. Health insurance provides solutions to such medical emergencies or health related problems. Small deposits in the form of premiums help in meeting the one-time cost in the form of sum assured.
The facility of cashless treatment is also available
Almost all leading insurance companies provide cashless treatment facility. In this you can get hospitalized without paying a single penny. You can get yourself treated. Later, the insurance company pays for your treatment.
But, this payment is also made under the terms and conditions given in your insurance policy.
Benefit of tax exemption on health insurance as well
You get tax exemption under section 80D of the Income Tax Act on medical expenses incurred for yourself or your family members. If you have taken a Health Insurance or Medical Insurance policy, then you get this tax exemption on its premium payment as well.
What is the difference between Health Insurance Plan and Mediclaim Policy?
Under Mediclaim Insurance, the facility is available till hospitalization only during hospitalization. Pre-hospitalization expenses and post-hospitalization expenses, etc. rest of the expenses have to be borne by the insured person himself.
That’s why, companies often provide mediclaim insurance to their employees, not health insurance.
Whereas, in health insurance you get a complete insurance coverage. During hospitalization, the facility of treatment is available.
Other expenses like pre-hospitalisation expenses and post-hospitalisation expenses are also covered by the insurance. In addition to common diseases, it provides treatment for more than 30 serious diseases.
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