You would have often heard people saying that ‘Health is Wealth’. In today’s age, bad health can take away your wealth. The cost of medical treatment is so high that you will spend a lakh even for minor surgery. In such a case, critical illness can be very draining. You need a backup plan to deal with this, and what is better than health insurance? Health insurance can help you mitigate the financial risk associated with hospitalization. Today, we will talk about health insurance and its advantages & disadvantages. Go ahead and check out the details on this page.
🤔 What is a Health Insurance?
Insurance is an instrument used to mitigate the risk that arises because of an underlying asset. Health insurance mitigates the financial risk that arises because of bad health. It covers your expenses in case you need medical treatment. Today, the options are so versatile that you can even cover Ayurveda, Homeopathy and even other natural forms of treatment under the health insurance plan. Apart from this, health insurance offers you the ability to avail of treatment without shelling out cash from your pocket. Most of the companies also offer health insurance that has a coverage of Rs 1 crore. Such plans can cover you during critical illnesses like cancer, organ transplant or something else. We are sure that you would love to learn more about health insurance. Let us move on to the next section and check out more details now.
👍 Advantages of Health Insurance
Let us now look at all the advantages of health insurance.
1. Cashless Hospitalization – When you need medical attention, you can seek hospitalization, and there is no need to have cash in bulk for that. Most health insurance has huge numbers of network hospitals that would provide treatment free of cost. The advantage of cashless hospitalization is that you don’t have to worry about the bill.
2. Add-On Riders – You can get add-on riders on health insurance. This may include OPD cover covering the bill of consultations and health checks. Similarly, you can get a critical care cover or a cover with high deductibles. This can enhance the utility of your health insurance by multiple folds.
3. Financial Protection – A medical emergency can leave many people in debt, which is a problem. You won’t have to worry about financial troubles if you have health insurance. The health insurance will cover the room rent & cost of treatment or surgery. It will also cover pre-hospitalization & post-hospitalization charges.
4. No Claim Bonus – You get a no-claim bonus yearly when you don’t make a health claim. The advantage of the no-claim bonus is that it reduces the insurance cost for the following year. Some policies offer higher coverage instead of lowering the premium. You can choose in this case.
5. Better Healthcare – Since you don’t have a shortage of funds for the treatment, you can also get better treatment. You don’t have to worry about visiting the most expensive hospital in your city, as your health insurance will foot the bill for the treatment.
6. Tax Benefits – The premium paid towards health insurance is tax deductible. Hence, when you make a premium payment, it also reduces your tax liability. This is undoubtedly one of the best parts about getting health insurance. You get coverage, and you also reduce the taxable income.
7. Cover for Family – In typical health insurance, you can cover yourself, your spouse and two children. This helps you get the cover for the whole family, and it is undoubtedly very beneficial. This feature allows you to stay prepared for an emergency. In some policies, you can even add your parents. The coverage comes at a higher premium, but you get more benefits for the price.
8. Lifetime Renewability – Most health insurance offers lifetime renewability. It is beneficial to start health insurance early. Once you turn old, the premium increases; for senior citizens, the premium can be astronomically high if they haven’t held health insurance before.
👎 Disadvantages of Health Insurance
There are some disadvantages or shortcomings of health insurance. We have talked about these disadvantages below.
1. Pre-Existing Diseases – Health insurance doesn’t cover pre-existing diseases for a certain period. This period depends on the insurer, and you must check before buying the policy. Some insurance may not even cover the pre-existing disease for the rest of your life, which may not be a good deal.
2. Waiting Period – All health insurance also has a waiting period. For example, you can’t get operated for a cataract right after purchasing health insurance. You would need to wait a certain amount of time. This period differs for each disease, so you need to refer to the insurance booklet for the same.
3. Expensive for Elders – If you haven’t held the insurance policy before and are over 40, the insurance premium can be very high. This might not even be financially viable to buy health insurance for senior citizens. So, it is always advisable to have health insurance from a young age as the premium would remain the same.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What Type Of Coverage I Can Get With A Typical Health Insurance Policy?
Ans: With a typical health insurance policy, you can get coverage for a range of medical expenses such as going to the hospital, seeing a doctor, getting prescription drugs, and getting lab tests done. The exact coverage you get depends on your policy, but many insurance companies offer a variety of options to help you pay for your medical expenses.
Q2. How Hard It Is To Upgrade Or Downgrade The Health Insurance Plan?
Ans: Upgrading or downgrading your health insurance plan is usually not too difficult, as long as you do it during the annual open enrollment period. However, if you need to make changes outside of open enrollment, it might be a bit harder, but it’s still possible in many cases. The process will depend on your insurance company and the specific changes you want to make to your policy.
Q3. I Have A Pre-Existing Medical Condition, Can I Still Opt For A Health Insurance Policy?
Ans: Yes, you can still get health insurance even if you have a pre-existing medical condition. In fact, many insurance companies offer policies specifically designed for people with pre-existing conditions, but the coverage may cost more.
Q4. What Does Deductible Mean In A Health Insurance Policy?
Ans: The deductible in a health insurance policy is the amount of money you have to pay yourself before your insurance starts covering your medical expenses. For example, if your policy has a 50,000 rupees deductible, you’ll need to pay the first 50,000 rupees of your medical bills before your insurance starts covering the rest. The purpose of the deductible is to encourage people to be more responsible for their health and manage their medical expenses more carefully.
Q5. Should I Buy a Health Insurance Even After Having a Corporate Insurance?
Ans: We recommend buying personal health insurance even when you have corporate health insurance. This is because you are going to retire at one point in time. After retirement, you will not be able to use corporate insurance. At that age, if you buy new health insurance, it would prove to be very expensive. Whereas, if you purchase health insurance right now and carry it forward in the future, the premium would be minimal. In such a case, it becomes very important to have personal health insurance even after having corporate insurance.
Conclusion
This was all the necessary information about health insurance. Many insurance companies offer you annual medical checks. You can avail of those features and remember to get yourself checked at least once a year. Early diagnosis can help you treat even a severe disease. To conclude, we would say to take care of your health and remember that prevention is better than cure.
