Health Insurance- A Detailed Overview 

Are you planning to buy health insurance but confused about how it can serve you?

Then don’t worry. 

Here in this article, we are going to discuss health insurance and its benefits.

So let’s dive into the article below and find a detailed overview of health insurance. 

What is Health Insurance?

A health insurance policy refers to the coverage of money against medical expenses incurred due to accidents, illness, or injury. Any person can avail of such a policy against monthly or annual premium payments, for a specific tenure.

During this term, if any insured person meets with an accident or is diagnosed with some kind of severe ailment, the expenses incurred for treatment purposes should be taken by the insurance provider.

Apart from these things, you can also enjoy several add-on benefits, which are extended with health insurance policies, that will be discussed in detail in the following sections.

Types of Health Insurance

There are two main types of health insurance are available. These are given below. 

Mediclaim Plans

Mediclaim or otherwise named a hospitalization plan is the most basic type of health insurance plan. Mediclaim health insurance plans cover the cost of treatment when you are admitted to the hospital. 

The payout that is made on actual expenses is generally incurred in the hospital by submitting original bills generated by hospitals. Sometimes, most of these plans can cover the entire family up to a certain limit.

Critical Illness Insurance Plans

Critical Illness Insurance Plans are health insurance plans that deal with specific life-threatening diseases. These diseases could require prolonged treatment or even a change in lifestyle. 

Unlike hospitalization plans or cover made through bills, this payout of money is made on Critical Illness cover which is chosen by the customer, and not on actual expenses incurred in the hospital. 

This critical illness insurance cover provides the flexibility to use the monies for changing the lifestyle and medicines of the insured person. 

Thus it also acts as a substitute for income for those times when you could not resume work due to illness. Payouts of insurance cover under these plans are generally made on the diagnosis of the disease for which the original medical bills are not required.

How Does Health Insurance Works?

Like most insurance policies, health insurance also helps the insured person deal with the financial repercussions of an accident or emergency.

The process of health insurance begins when you apply to purchase a plan. After choosing a plan depending on your age, medical background, the sum insured that you required, and the type of plan you’ve selected, you will be provided with some kinds of premium quotes. 

In most cases, you might be asked to go through a few medical tests before the insurance provider company decides whether they would like to provide you with the required coverage. 

Once the terms and conditions of your policy are finalized, that person will be provided with a policy. 

Every policy comes with certain waiting periods. The initial waiting period for any insurance is only for a few weeks or a month. During this period of time, you will not be able to make any kind of non-emergency claims. 

For example, you need to go through some kind of surgery after the completion of a waiting period. If you are able to get the treatment of your disease in a network hospital, you can let the insurance provider know about the surgery, and they will get in touch with the hospital directly to settle all the payments. 

Then after you are discharged from the hospital, you just have to pay for additional expenses which are not covered and the voluntary co-pay amount, if any. 

If you’re taking treatment in any non-network hospital, you can also make all the payments and then file for a reimbursement claim. You can get the treatment either way that you require without fretting about burning a hole through your pocket.

How to choose a good health insurance plan?

If you contacting with anybody who has a health insurance policy, they will definitely tell you that buying a health insurance policy is one of the smartest financial decisions that they made. 

Now, as you have decided to buy a health insurance policy, you just need to have an idea of how to select a good health insurance plan which will perfectly take care of all your needs. 

Following is the list of benefits that any good health insurance plan should offer you

1. It provides you with protection against a large number of critical illnesses.

2. You will have a lot of options and you can have the flexibility to choose your health coverage.

3. They will not charge you any increase in premiums during the policy term even if your condition of health changes.

4. It comes with a long policy term which will cover you even in your old age. 

5. The insurance provider must have a large hospital network for easy access to medical treatment.

Benefits of Health Insurance

Buying health insurance is essential for a number of reasons. Let’s have a look at some of the most important benefits of any health insurance policy:

Help to Deal with Rising Medical Costs

The primary aim of people purchasing health insurance policies is to safeguard their finances against ever-rising medical bills.

You are perfectly aware of the fact that an accident or medical emergency may end up costing you more than a few lakhs of rupees.

So with a proper medical insurance plan, you will be able to enjoy the cover for everything starting from ambulance charges to daycare procedures, which makes it easier for you to get the care you need to recover.

Critical Illness Cover

Most health insurance policies provide you the cover for critical illnesses at an additional cost. Looking at the rising incidence of lifestyle-related diseases these days, it is another crucial cover that you can have while buying a health insurance policy. 

You will definitely be provided with a lump sum payout of money in case you are diagnosed with any of the covered critical illnesses. As you know, these issues are sometimes very expensive to deal with and manage, so critical illness coverage is another major benefit of having health insurance.

Easy Cashless Claims

Most health insurance providers are generally tied up with a number of network hospitals with whom you can enjoy cashless claims. 

The collaboration of your insurance provider along with hospitals makes the entire process of receiving emergency medical care much easier. 

At a network hospital, you don’t really need to pay for any kind of covered treatments. For all valid claims, the insurance provider will take care of the medical costs, without involving you in paying for anything, except non-covered expenses and the mandatory deductibles.

Added Protection

If you enjoy a cover under any group health insurance plan, you might wonder why should you purchase your own health insurance policy. 

But before that, you should aware of the fact that individual health insurance plans offer providers are more and provide you with better coverage than any group plans. 

Apart from that, if you want to leave the group at any time, you may risk losing the cover, which may make you and your finances vulnerable.

Tax Savings

As per section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, premiums paid towards the upkeep of health insurance policies are generally eligible for tax deductions.

For a health insurance policy for yourself, your spouse, your children, and your parents below the age of 60, you can claim a deduction of up to INR 25,000 per year from your taxable income. 

If you’ve also purchased another policy for a parent who is over the age of 60, you can also reclaim an additional deduction of INR 50,000.

Conclusion 

Health insurance is an important financial tool that every person must have these days. Life is unpredictable and so is health. 

You don’t know what will happen to you at what moment.  So one must have health insurance plans to deal with such a situation. 

So purchase health insurance and secure your health for the future.

*image source from Google

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