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Importance of Health Insurance A health insurance will provide financial cover to you and your family against sudden medical expenses. Every human being is exposed to various health hazards. Medical emergency can strike anyone without pre-warning. You should not wait to get into suitable health insurance policy because medical costs have skyrocketed/zoomed/soared in recent years. Medical Cost have zoomed in 5 years Procedures 2012 2007 Increase in % Childbirth (Normal) 42000 29000 45 Childbirth (Caesarean) 26000 18000 44 Cataract Removal 24000 16000 50 Angiography 22000 14000 57 Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (Bypass) 235000 165000 42 Appendectomy 42000 28000 50 Haemorrhoidectomy (Piles) 35000 21000 67 Cholecystectomy (Gall Bladder Removal) 52000 32000 63 TURP (Prostate Surgery) 62000 37000 68 Angioplasty (PTCA) with 2 stents 245000 155000 58 A standard health insurance covers: a) Room and boarding expenses provided by the hospital b) Nursing expenses c) Diagnostic and medicine expenses d) Surgeon, Anesthetist, Medical Practitioner, Consultants, Specialist fees e) Anesthesia, blood, oxygen, operation theatre expenses, cost of surgical appliances, medicines and drugs and similar expenses f) Pre-hospitalization and post hospitalization expenses subject to conditions and limits How to choose the right policy..???????? Some of us buy a policy advised by a friend or even a Relationship Manager. We do not even check if it’s the right policy for us. It is very important to choose the right policy or it would not be like an expensive dress which you can not wear at the required occasion due to wrong size. Let’s discuss how to choose right policy: What is your requirement: To judge, what exactly your requirement is and which policy will benefit you most, one must evaluate following points: A). How old are you: More the age, more the extensive policy you need. When young, you are top of the world. But human body tends to be less immune towards diseases as one gets older. Now, it is simple to understand why health insurance premium increases with age. Faydabook will advise you to start health policy as early as possible. The two main benefits of taking an early health insurance are: a) In starting few years of any health policy, you might not be covered for complex and pre-existing diseases. But you will be covered for the same after the cooling period if there is no break in the policy. So by the time you grow old, you will have a comprehensive policy. Remember, that’s when you need it most. b) In addition, each 'no claim' year would fetch you a discount on your premium or an increase in your sum insured amount at no extra cost in the policy. Always opt to increase sum insured instead of premium discount. B) What type of Policy you need: Which type of policy one should opt, depends on factors such as age, marital status, health status etc. Let’s check type of policies normally insurance company offer: Type of Policy Definition Individual Individual health policy is suitable for single person. Total premium would be lowest in this type of policy. Family Floater Family Floater Policy is suitable for a family like 2 adult+1 Child or 2 Adult + 2 Child. In this policy Sum Insured can be shared across all family members covered in the policy. Senior Citizen Senior Citizen policies suitable for Senior citizen above 60 years of age. It is different from normal health policy and provides some extensive benefits. Critical illness These policies are designed to provide comprehensive cover on major critical diseases like Cancer; heart stroke etc. Women Critical illness This is a women-specific Critical Illness Insurance scheme that provides you protection against the risk of any critical illnesses. Group Policy Group Health Insurance policy to insure all group members/employees as well as their families against unforeseen medical expenses. Per lakh premium will be lowest. Many companies bear the expenses for their employees. Faydabook advise- Never miss the opportunity to enroll in Group health policy, because this will provide you the best plan and cases like childbirth are covered from very first day of the policy inception date. C) Disease Covered: Before finalizing the policy, one should also check terms & condition minutely in terms of what diseases are covered and exclusions( diseased are not covered). Normally companies do not cover any pre-existing disease for 3-4 years from starting of the policy. Apart that, there are exclusions also which should be cross checked from terms & condition brochure. In order to cover any specific disease/illness, you need to discuss it with company official representative in detail and also check in your policy documents to avoid mis-buying. Faydabook advise- One should always cross check his/her family health tree and then ensure to cover heredity disease, if any. What you need to check about insurance company A) Compare Premium: The amount that one should pay for health coverage typically depends on factors that include your age and current health status. Click to compare Premium Faydabook advise- Do not over-emphasize on saving premium cost only. Try to get more comprehensive policy in terms of sum insured; family coverage; disease covered etc. by comparing available plans. B) Check availability of nearest Network Hospitals One should always check the availability of nearest network hospitals before buying any policy. One can easily find the Network hospital list from website of the insurance company or can be confirmed from customer care. Faydabook advise- Choose the policy which has best & nearest hospitals. Making a list of network hospital nearest to you will allow you to take quick decision at the time of emergency. C) Client Service level: A satisfactory client service is a combination of many services. Complete client service may incorporate mention services: a). Dedicated helpdesk: A dedicated helpdesk allow customers to interact with company directly via phone, e-mail, sms etc. b). On-line claim tracker: Most important tool provided by insurance companies where one can track his/her claim processing status on-line. c). On-line renewal Service: This is another valuable utility, where you can go and get your policy renewed instantly on-line. d). TPA Service: A Third Party Administrator (TPA) is an outsourcing agency, hired by insurance company that manage their network hospital list, provide cashless settlement and also processes claims. e). Value added service: Many companies also offer some value added services like OPD discount, discount on Pathologies, and discount on Radiology etc.
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