As health concerns are increasing due to pollution, lifestyle choices and stress, it has become important to invest in health insurance so you can stay financially secure in times of medical emergencies. When you pay for a health insurance policy in India, you get access to emergency services and timely treatment.
Therefore, you need to find a good health policy that will provide extensive coverage and benefits. Continue reading to learn what health insurance benefits you should look for while buying a health policy.
Table of Contents
10 Health Insurance Benefits to Check for in Your Policy
1. Hospitalisation
When purchasing health insurance in India, you have to look for the hospitalisation expenses that the insurance provider is willing to include in the policy coverage. Such costs will generally include room rent, nursing care, doctor’s fees, surgery fees, medical procedures, etc. The plan should include pre and post-hospitalisation costs such as follow-up consultations and diagnostic tests.
2. Cashless Treatment
The cashless treatment option makes it easier to manage medical emergencies. Instead of paying the bill upfront and waiting for reimbursement, your insurance provider directly settles the bill with the hospital.
3. Family Floater
If you have a family whose medical needs have to be catered to, you should opt for family health insurance. Under this policy, the insurance provider will cover the medical expenses of all the family members included in the policy, providing for their surgeries, hospitalisation and other medical requirements.
4. Maternity Coverage
Your health insurance policy checklist should also include maternity coverage as part of the plan or as an add-on. Such plans cover the expenses related to pre and post-pregnancy. If you want more coverage from the plan, you should look for a health policy with pre and post-natal costs from reputed providers like TATA AIG.
5. Health Insurance for Senior Citizens
Another benefit you must check for is whether or not the health insurance policy you select features coverage for senior citizens. This way, you can make the most of the policy to provide medical care to your parents with the expenses covered by your policy.
6. Ambulance Cover
This is the fee you must pay to the ambulance for transporting the patient to the hospital. Generally, most insurers cover this fee with a predetermined amount.
7. Preventive Health Check-ups
Preventive health check-up is a must for your health policy. This way, you can keep track of your health and protect yourself from chronic ailments in future.
8. Specific Plans for Critical Illnesses
Critical illnesses require special coverage, and you should ensure that your health insurance plan offers separate coverage for critical illnesses. This is because such illnesses require expensive treatments, which your insurer will cover on your behalf.
9. COVID-19 Coverage
Ever since the pandemic hit the world, people have become more aware of the need to identify this disease early on so that it can be treated on time. Make sure that your policy covers COVID-19.
10. Tax Deductions
The premiums that you pay towards your health insurance plan can not only help you medically but can also help you with tax benefits. While individuals below 60 years claim a deduction of up to ₹25,000, senior citizens claim up to ₹50,000 as a tax deduction yearly.
Conclusion
Apart from these benefits, you should also look for other benefits such as No Claim Bonus, Cumulative Bonus and domiciliary treatment as part of your health policy benefits. The more the benefits, the better the coverage will be. However, make sure that you read the fine print before investing in a health policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do I check my health insurance policy?
To check your health insurance policy, you have to visit the official website of your insurer and provide your policy number, email ID or registered phone number to log into your account.
These options may be different for different insurers. Once you provide your policy number/email ID/phone number, you can get access to your policy details and other information related to your policy.
- What are the most important health insurance benefits?
Some of the important health insurance benefits include pre and post-hospitalisation costs, hospitalisation expenses, cashless treatment, tax benefits and preventive health check-ups, among others.