Why do you need Health Insurance now?

No one plans to fall ill or get hurt, but a serious illness can strike anyone at any time. The cost of treating the illness can cause severe financial strain on the savings you have accumulated over time. This means that you might have to compromise on providing your child the best quality education or default on your home loan payments. Today, the cost of medical treatment is continuously rising.

For e.g., Herceptin, a cancer medicine costs approximately Rs 1,10,000 for a vial of 440 mg. Depending on the weight, a patient usually requires 17-19 bottles for treatment over a year. That’s Rs18 – 20 lakh just for the medicine~. Then add hospitalization costs, doctor consultation fees, chemotherapy costs, etc. and your overall expenses could exceed 25 lakhs. These costs which are already very high are increasing every year. Most smart people have taken necessary precautions to ensure their health as soon as possible. Health insurance is a living benefit, which you would need money at the time of dire need. One disease can drain out all the savings you have made for your children’s education, marriage, for buying a house, or even retirement. You would not want your family’s dreams to get shattered just because of an illness, especially when you could have protected yourself financially. It is beneficial to take a health insurance policy when you are young and healthy. As you get older, not only does your premium increase, but you also stand a chance of being denied health coverage by the insurance company.

How to choose a good health insurance plan?

Anybody who has a health insurance policy will tell you that buying one is one of the smartest financial decisions by any earning individual. Now, that you have decided to buy a health insurance policy, you need to know how to select a good health insurance plan that will take care of all your needs. Here is a list of benefits any good health insurance plan should offer you:

• Protection against a large number of critical illnesses
• Flexibility to choose your health cover
• No increase in premiums during the policy term even if your health condition changes
• A long-policy term that covers you even in your old age
• Large hospital network for easy access to medical treatment

Should I buy a Mediclaim plan or a Critical Illness Insurance plan?

A Mediclaim plan will either reimburse all your hospitalization expenses or settle the hospital bills via a cashless facility. With a Critical Illness Insurance plan, you will receive a lump-sum payout on the detection of a critical illness. You don’t have to be hospitalized for the same. If you are unable to work because of the illness, then you can use the amount as a substitute for your monthly income. You can even use the money to cover expenses for doctor visits, medicine purchases, medical tests, or any other expense that might arise during this time. That is why you need both – a Mediclaim plan to cover your hospitalization expenses and a Critical Illness Insurance plan to cover your loss of income and other expenses that arise due to an illness.