Is Health Insurance a need in India?

Is Insurance a need for every individual today?

Nowadays most of the people in India are not covered by health insurance. It is a serious question to be thought. Growing healthcare expenses is the most significant worry for every Indian household. Medical inflation is 12% p.a and Medical spending is growing 10% p.a per Indian family.

Health is wealth – we all know that, but we hardly take care of our health in our busy life schedule.

We all give the least importance to our health as compared to other things.
Being healthy is a boon for all of us, and we should take of it.
Insurance is the most important and first thing to be added to all of our portfolios during financial planning.

Insurance should be a pure risk cover and not a profit investing.
In India, Health insurance policies ensure that you get cashless treatment in network hospitals (hospitals empanelled with the Insurance company)
or reimbursement of expenses subject to the claim is admissible under the policy terms and conditions.

According to the Ministry of Health, nearly 63 million people are faced with poverty every year due to “catastrophic” expenditure they incur over healthcare.
In addition to this, only a small percentage of Indians have health insurance policies in India.

Until the right mechanisms are in place, we ensure that out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure incurred by people comes down.
The OOP expenditure will continue to disengage all the economic progress made by the Indians.

We often in our hustle-bustle life ignore our health and keep delaying the purchase of a health plan.
With Indian financial markets flooded with multiple health insurance plans, it is quite a tedious task to find one suitable for our needs.

WHAT DOES A GOOD HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN COVER?

Hospitalisation expenses-including pre and post hospitalization.
Daycare and domiciliary treatments.
Emergency Ambulance benefits.
Daily hospital cash allowance.
Preventive health check-up reimbursement.

DO’S and DON’TS OF BUYING HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY IN INDIA

Do’s of buying a health care plan:

Market Research – Do a thorough market research to get hold of the best health insurance plan. With a wide range of methods available in the market, it tends to become difficult to select the suitable health plan that will fulfill the everyone’s requirement. However, a market research always proves to be of more significant help.
Look for Coverage Options – Remember that there are restrictions on what benefits included and what benefits not included. Make sure you are aware of the inclusions as well as the exclusions before taking any insurance.
Read Policy Terms and Conditions carefully – Always read the terms and conditions strictly mentioned in the policy. It will reduce the chances of misunderstandings if any that may come in future.
Check for Enlisted Specialists – Look for the list of specialists who enlisted with the insurance provider. Also, you should have a second opinion or find out if visiting an alternate medical specialist is covered or not.
Compare Plans – Always compare different health insurance plans to get hold of the best options.
Disclosure of Pre-existing Conditions – Always disclose the details of the pre-existing diseases if any in the insurance policies. Includes things like high BP (blood pressure) and also diabetes.
Submitting Necessary Documents/proofs – It required that you provide all the necessary documents/tests, medical or health reports etc. The insurance companies ask for depending on the age at the time of taking policy.
Required Medical Tests – In case there are any medical tests needed for the policy or which need to be carried out. So, check as to where, when and how they will be carried out. Also, you should check with the agent who will be bearing the cost for these medical tests/reports.
Seek Feedback – Always seek advice from family and friends who have already bought a health insurance policy. Ask them about their personal experiences with their health insurance providers. And, also ask them for their feedback on a good or bad level with the idea about the policy they bought.
Wait for Proposal Acceptance from the Insurance provider – To make the premium payment you should always wait until the proposal form is accepted/approved by the insurer.
Timely Renewal – Make sure you will renew your policy on or before the time and enjoy life-long health care coverage.

Don’ts of buying a health care plan:

If you don’t understand, don’t buy – Never buy a plan whose point you are unable to comprehend clearly.
Do not hide anything related to your health – Never hide anything about your health issues or the things that play an essential part in getting a health policy issued. Else you might end up with the dispute in the future when you set out to make a claim.
Don’t hesitate meeting insurance agents – Do not consider attending insurance agents as a waste of time. These meetings will only help you in getting a clear picture of the different health insurance plans and proposals.

Here are few tips for buying health insurance policies for you

10 Things to consider before buying Health Insurance:-

The efficiency of claims process: Claim settlement time and claim settlement ratio should be one of the most critical factors that must consider. Higher the settlement ratio and faster the settlement time mean that the insurance provider is doing an excellent job with all individual claims.
Co-payment: Co-payment is mandated. So, that the policyholder will bear a pre-defined percentage of the claim amount and the rest will always be settled by the insurance companies, a general clause with most group health insurance policies (your employer-provided policy). While you may find an insurance plan to be cheap, it may not offer you complete coverage if it comes with a co-payment clause.
Day-care procedures: Many health insurance plans do not cover Day-care treatments. Moreover, to make a medical claim, hospitalization for at least 24 hours is mandatory. Thanks to numerous innovations in technology, today, most procedures do not require admission. Thus, it is best to opt for a plan that covers a maximum number of day-care systems.
Network hospitals: Always check the list of network hospitals and see if it includes the facilities that you often visit. It is also an essential factor to consider if you travel or move cities because your health insurance should go with you. Also, cashless facilities can only avail of in-network hospitals.
Pre and Post Hospitalization: Medical expenses incurred after and before hospitalization are called Pre and Post hospitalization expenses. During hospitalization, some part of the treatment extends beyond the admission. Follow-up visits to the doctor, medicines which have to follow, and also the follow-up investigations to be done fall under the category of post-hospitalization expenses. Only those costs are relevant to the ailment for which the person has been hospitalized and shall just consider under Pre & Post-hospitalisation expenses.
No claim bonus: Many insurance companies offer a no-claim bonus/discount, in case, the policyholder has not lodged any claim. In such a case, either the sum insured is increases or the premium decreases or both.
Maternity Benefits: Manage the hike in the cost of pregnancy, it is essential to cross-check whether the policy is offering maternity coverages. Before buying any health policy, every woman needs to check four key-points mentioned below:
Free medical checkup: Look for a health insurance policy that entitles policyholders to a free medical check-up. The tests/checkup has no bearing on the premium when plans come for renewal.
Lifetime Renewal: Any health insurance policy can be renewed lifelong. Therefore, it doesn’t have any age limit for the renewal. A critical factor to consider if you’re planning to cover your elderly parents in your policy.

Maternity Benefits key-points –

Look for the waiting period applicable for claiming maternity expenses
Consider the sub-limit;
See if the policy covers outpatient costs related to maternity; and
Check the specific exclusion/s(if any) connected to the cover.

Source: http://www.onlinegyaani.com/is-health-insurance-a-need-in-india/
Credit: Sharad Narayan