Health insurance, also known as Mediclaim policy or medical coverage, is a contract in which the health insurance company promises to bear your hospitalization and allied bills in return for a periodic sum called premium. The premium that you pay for your health insurance policy is a wise investment in your health. And as they say, ‘health is wealth’ – this investment pays far more returns than any other investment proposition. Taking a health insurance policy gives you peace of mind as you know if there occurs a medical contingency in the family, you have financial backing from the insurer to meet the expenses and take the best of treatment.
Why do you need medical coverage?
In modern-day life, we are witnessing sedentary lifestyles and rising levels of pollution and stress. To add to this mess, now we have the Covid-19 pandemic to deal with as well. Keeping yourself and your family fit and devoid of diseases has become an ardent task, and more often than not the diseases outfox you. Getting hospitalized and paying all the medical bills out-of-pocket can hurt deeper than the ailments themselves. People who are not covered under any medical insurance plan tend to delay treatment or go for cheap treatments. By doing this, they often worsen their condition.
Most often, hospitalization requirements are immediate. For example, a serious accident can occur at any time to you or any of your family members. This event can cause deep injuries for which you or the family member needs to be rushed to the hospital. There you need an immediate fund requirement. In such situations, most people without any health insurance cover, either break their FDs or borrow from friends. A single hospitalization can wash away your months and months of savings.
The premium that you pay for health insurance is quite affordable, especially when you see it from the perspective of how much costs it can save you in case of a medical contingency. So, why would you not play safe and have adequate health insurance cover for yourself and your family?
Benefits of a health insurance plan
The following are some of the many benefits of a health insurance plan.
- Room rent coverage
- Coverage for pre and post hospitalization expenses - Your health insurer reimburses you the medicals expenses incurred by you both before and after hospitalization up to pre-specified time limits/ duration. The standard practice is 30 days of pre-hospitalization expenses and 60 days of post-hospitalization expenses are covered.
- Ambulance charges - Some heath insurance plans cover ambulance charges and other transportation costs of the insured patient.
- Room rent coverage - The hospital room expenses are also covered by the insurance company. The category of room covered is specified in the health insurance policy. Many health insurance plans put a capping on the room rent. Over which you have to bear out-of-pocket.
- No-claim bonuses - These bonuses are earned by the person insured if no claims are filed for treatments in a particular.
- Medical check-ups - Some health insurance policies also offer medical coverage for periodic health check-ups. Some companies even provide free check-ups on the basis of earlier no-claim bonuses.
- Tax benefits - You can get a deduction of up to INR 25,000 from taxable income of health insurance premiums paid under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. The maximum deduction limit for senior citizens is INR 50,000.