Health insurance

Complete Health Insurance Guide: Meaning, Benefits, And Annual Charges

‘Health is wealth’, the saying goes beyond just words as its true meaning is revealed in a health emergency. Such a situation can drain all your savings unless you already have a health insurance policy. This comprehensive guide provides information on health insurance, the various , their features, and why you should invest in it.

What is a health insurance policy?

A policy extends coverage against medical expenses incurred due to accidents, illness, or injury.  companies offer multiple policies against monthly or annual premium payments for a specified tenure to individuals, families, or a group of people. 

Depending on the agreement and its terms, if an insured meets with an accident or is diagnosed with a disease, the expenses incurred for treating the ailment will be borne by the insurance provider. 

Many insurance providers in India provide inclusive medical policies, including health insurance for parents and children. Make sure you read the policy and decide based on your medical needs and the benefits expected from the policy. Most top-rated insurance companies also extend add-on benefits on their  policies to offer various additional benefits to the policyholders

Benefits of health insurance policy

A covers hospitalization expenses in case of diseases or accidents. Medical conditions requiring urgent hospitalization are usually covered under all standard health insurance plans for short-term or long-term treatment. To get insurance against a previously diagnosed disease, you must find specific policies that provide coverage against pre-existing illnesses

How does it work?

So, your  can provide two broad covers. One is a treatment against illness, which includes diagnostic tests, hospitalization, medication, etc. These can be avail against critical diseases if you have a critical illness add-on or just the regular hospitalization expenses.  The other is the coverage for hospitalization due to accidental injuries or illnesses. 

• Coverage for pre-and-post-hospitalization charges 

Hospital admission, doctor consultations, and medical tests come at a cost. Such pre-hospitalization and expenses incurve post-discharge, such as routine check-ups, follow-up tests etc., can also be reimburse, and these can be claimed as a lump sum or upon producing respective bills. 

• Daycare procedures

Some treatments, such as dialysis, tonsillectomy, or cataract, may require only daycare treatment. Such procedures are usually cover under most health insurance plans. 

Ambulance/ conveyance to hospital charges 

Any standard medical policy covers the ambulance expenses incurred during medical emergencies. Some policies may also reimburse the bills against any other transportation used to ply the patient to the hospital in an emergency. 

• Avail No Claim Bonus

You can avail of extended discounts or a higher insured sum without paying anything extra in the following years after every no-claim year during your policy duration. It reduces the annually payable premium or extends your sum insured coverage. Your health insurance policy allows you to make claims amounting to the sum insured twice yearly. However, this is subject to the condition that your medical needs differ each time. In addition, you could be entity to a daily cash allowance that can make up for the loss of pay you might have experience during hospitalization. 

You can also expect home hospitalization coverage, such as nurse fees, injections, donor costs, etc., under a comprehensive policy. Aside from physical ailments, most top-rated policies enable policyholders to seek professional help for mental health treatment. 

Types of health insurance policies

Individual health insurance

This policy covers all treatment costs of a single indriid and can be avail for oneself, parents, spouse, and children. This  usually covers all the included family members owing to the separate sum insured amount.

Family floater health insurance policy 

This policy has a single sum insured and covers all the family members under a single policy. If your parents are senior citizens and you are searching for viable health insurance, a family floater policy might not suffice due to their complex medical needs. You may fall short on the sum insured as they are more prone to critical illness. 

 Senior citizen health insurance 

Such a policy is custom-design to cover all expenses of aged people and is grant  to those over 60 years. Separate covers help senior citizens get adequate coverage in times of need.

Group health insurance 

Group  that companies extend to their employees are cost-effective. You can buy top-up plans over group health insurance for additional coverage.

Moreover, you can find policies for maternity insurance and critical illness, although they have respective waiting periods and benefits. Make sure to pay your insurance premium as required and renew your policy when due to avail of the benefits. 

 

In conclusion

You can buy an appropriate policy as per your age and required benefits by carefully researching the available policies in the market and finding a cost-effective premium that meets your specific needs.