Health Insurance

Health insurance provides financial assistance to the insured against emergency medical expenses. This assistance is provided as per the health insurance policy chosen by the insured. Mainly in this insurance contract, financial assistance is provided for expenses like surgical expenses, care expenses and serious illness expenses etc.

Importance of Health Insurance:

In today’s time, this insurance is very important for every person. After the pandemic, awareness among people regarding health has increased further. In such a situation, people definitely buy a health plan policy because it reduces medical expenses. This insurance policy is also called a medical insurance plan. This insurance policy covers all expenses incurred after hospitalization and discharge. Medicaid companies also provide cashless treatment facilities in the hospitals in their network.

How to choose health insurance:

There are many types of health insurance plans available in the market. The insurer provides benefits depending on the insurance policy you select. Therefore, cover should be taken only after having proper information about the health plan. For this, you should compare the various policies available in the market and select only the one which meets your health needs.

Health insurance has the following types of benefits:

Cashless treatment

Due to the cashless treatment facility of health insurance, you will not have to worry about money for treatment in case of an emergency. The insurer can avail this benefit from any network hospital of the insurance plan. A family health insurance policy covers all pre- and post-hospitalization expenses. In this, you can get coverage for 60 days before hospitalization and 90 days after discharge. This insurance policy also covers the daily expenses required for treatment.

Medical check-up

Apart from treatment, this insurance policy also covers the expenses for periodic health check-ups. Many insurers even provide free health checkup facility to their customers.

Income tax relief

Tax exemption is available on payment of health insurance plan premium in many countries. In India it is subject to the terms and conditions mentioned in Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. In the US, you can claim a tax deduction if your total annual medical expenses exceed 7.5% of your AGI. Health insurance premiums are deductible on federal taxes in some cases, because these monthly payments are classified as medical expenses.

Reimbursement for various lab tests

Under a health insurance policy, you can get compensation for all the lab and radiology tests prescribed by the doctor necessary for health care and proper treatment.

How does health insurance work?

• Health insurance, like other cover policies, helps you deal with the financial consequences of an accident or emergency. Let us know how this is actually works.
• This insurance process starts when you apply to purchase a plan. Because at the time of applying, you will be provided premium quotes under health plan based on your age, medical background, sum assured required and the type of insurance plan you choose. In some cases, the insurance providers decide after you undergo some medical tests that they will provide you the required cover. A policy will be provided to you only after the terms and conditions are finalized.
• Every policy comes with certain waiting periods. In this, the initial waiting period is only for a few weeks or a month. During this period the insurance holder will not be able to make any kind of non-emergency claim. After this waiting period the insured can avail the benefits of his insurance. For example, if the insurance holder has to undergo any surgery, he will inform the insurance provider about that surgery. Then the insurance provider will pay the cost of this surgery directly to the hospital. At the time of discharge from the hospital the insurance holder will have to pay only for those additional expenses which are not covered by the policy.

Types of Health Insurance

A single health insurance product is not sufficient for every person as everyone has different needs and requirements. There are many types of health plans available for this. Let us know about these types of it:

Individual health insurance

In this plan, you can choose ‘Individual Insurance’ policy for your parents, children and spouse. This health plan policy usually covers all types of medical expenses including hospitalization, daycare procedures, hospital room rent and others. Under an individual plan, each member has his own sum insured.

Family Floater Health Insurance

Family floater health plan offers you the convenience of covering your family members under a single policy. In this everyone shares the insurance amount. This policy is cheaper than an individual insurance plan because the sum assured is shared. This insurance plan is generally better for nuclear families.

older citizen Health Insurance

This plan is specially designed keeping in mind the medical needs and requirements of older citizens. Most policies provide additional covers such as psychiatric benefits and home hospitalization etc. Older citizens are more likely to have health related problems, hence a complete medical checkup is done before these policies. These are more expensive than regular insurance policies.

Insurance for critical illness

In today’s lifestyle, there is a risk of many serious diseases like cancer, stroke, kidney failure and heart disease etc. The expenses for dealing with and long-term management of such health issues can be high. For this reason, critical illness insurance policies have been created. These policies can also be combined with regular health plans. These policies provide claim payout as a lump sum payment after diagnosis of a critical illness along with providing cover for specific issues.

Group

This insurance is unlike individual and family floater policies. This insurance plan is purchased by a group manager for a larger number of individuals. An employer buys this insurance plan for all his employees. These plans are quite affordable and provide cover only for basic health issues.