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Mediclaim
If you are in the pink of health, it is difficult to imagine an illness could make you go bankrupt, but it can.
In the United States, medical bills are a factor in one out of five bankruptcies. This is because a critical medical situation not only means a major loss of income, but the lack of adequate medical cover to pay hospitalisation costs would also mean eroding your savings.
The idea of making money can make a man move mountains. If you tell a man to stop smoking for the sake of his lungs, he’ll cheekily blow a smoke ring in your face but offer him a rupee for every cigarette he gives up. You’ll cure him for life! So, it’s no wonder that when well-wishers ask you to take a medical insurance for health reasons, you’ll smile at them vacantly. But if they tell you it’s going to safeguard your savings and also allow you to take home some extra money through tax exemptions, you’ll jump into it.
Whatever your reason-health or wealth, you have no choice but to take it given the greater vulnerability to stress related to illness and escalating medical costs. And if the fringe benefit tax is going to hit the medical cover from your employer, you need to definitely need to look at an individual cover.
Why Do I need it?
Health care is a serious concern for most people today. Escalating costs accompanied by costs by the scare of new viruses being detected every other day makes us run to cover. This is where a Mediclaim steps in. It is an insurance that takes care of your medical expenses or treatment expenses.
This dependents on several factors such as age, health condition, lifestyle, etc. Ideally you should cover the costs of big surgeries and operations. An Angioplasty for instance cost anywhere between Rs.50000 to Rs 1.5 Lakh depending on the hospital you choose. A heart valve replacement can cost upto 2 lakh. So, in order to decide the amount of cover, you would have to good look at your medical history and check how vulnerable you are to certain patterns of illness.
For a person up to the age of 35, the premium per annum for cover of Rs.3 lakh would be between Rs.3,200 to Rs.3,800. Now that may not be a huge considering that you will get cover for treatment when you were to need it.
Medical Insurance covers everything right from the time you step into the hospital till the time you are discharged. The normal costs that are covered are room and boarding expenses, nursing expenses, fees for the surgeon and anesthetist, medical practitioner and consultant fees for specialists’ charges for anesthesia, blood, oxygen and the operation theatre, charges for surgical appliances, medicines and diagnostic materials and charges for X-rays, dialysis, chemotherapy and so on. Even medicines are covered.
The most important exclusions till recently have been pre-existing health conditions. If a person has had a heart attack previously or has been operated upon for some other condition, has been operated upon for some other condition, then cover will not be available for those conditions. There are several other exclusions such as dental surgeries, cosmetic surgeries for aesthetic purpose, HIV related conditions, etc. Further when you take a policy for the first time, any illness that commences during the first 30 days.
Cash policies eliminate the entire trouble of documentation. In a cashless facility, the insurer will settle your bills directly with the hospital and you will be discharged without paying a single paisa. However, remember that the insurer will settle your bills only up till the sum assured of your policy. Any expense over and above that limit will have to be borne by you. This is unlike policies wherein you would have to pay the hospital first and then claim a reimbursement.
Health Insurance is not for your health at all. It is to safeguard your savings. It’s actually there to ensure that your hard-earned cash doesn’t flow into hospitals.