A right covers to reimburse expenses incurred during hospitalization

A right covers to reimburse expenses incurred during hospitalization
The need for health insurance is unquestionable in view of the rising incidences of health issues and increasing medication prices. But it is important to choose the right cover given that a consumer is having choices today.

Insurers say a base cover for any health insurance has to be the traditional insurance health plan. It reimburses your expenses incurred during hospitalisation (as outlined in the policy). It can either be in the form of reimbursement once you submit the bills after being discharged from hospital, or a cashless facility in which the insurer releases the money as approved by the TPA(third party administrator) or the insurer.

For example, if you have incurred a cost of 1 lakh during hospitalisation and the sum insured of the policy is 5 lakh, the final claim settlement account will be up to 1 lakh.

Two types of Health Plans
a) Individual health plan and
b) Family floater plan
a) A individual plan typically covers expenses incurred on room rent, surgeon's fees, doctor's fees, operation theatre charges, etc. This plan, as the name states, is limited to an individual.

b) The second type is the family floater. It could cover 3-4 members of a family and the sum insured is applicable to each of the family members covered under the policy. If the size of the cover is 5 lakh, each covered member can claim the entire sum insured in the event of hospitalisation. Hence, it is better that family floater as an option should be exercised only if the possibility of hospitalisation is low. Otherwise, the chances of exhausting the sum insured are very high. As a result, other family members will have less or no coverage for the rest of the year. Such policies are generally targeted at a family of two adults and two children. Couples with either no children or a single child can also opt for a floater.

Health insurance with returns
Over the past decade, the entry of private players has managed to change customers' awareness about health insurance policies.

This rapidly changing state of affairs has also made insurers to drastically improve their levels of services and concentrate on customer satisfaction. Insurers now customise their products according to the needs of their customers, thereby improving the service levels in the market.

With the ever-increasing medical costs, an unexpected illness/disease/accident leading to hospitalisation is likely to make a serious dent in the pocket of those hospitalised. It is, therefore very important for one to invest in good health insurance policies to guard against unexpected incident.

Gone are the days when consumers bought insurance policies to just save tax. Now, many buy health insurance as a collective security tool for his/her family, as everyone is bound to go through unexpected circumstances. However, there is still a sense of doubt in the customers' mind on what product package suites them the best.
b) The following are aspects one needs to look at while purchasing health insurance policies:
a) The right age to purchase the policy
b) The appropriate medical tests the customer needs to go through prior to purchasing the policy Ways to maximise returns from the policy
c) The appropriate riders or add-ons that go hand-in-hand with the policy purchased the ailments the policy covers.
d) Family history of critical illnesses, when the customer is advised to go for a smart health critical illness cover.
e) When it comes to health insurance, the golden rule is 'the earlier the better'. Insuring self and family from a relatively young age and ensuring that policies are renewed on time to ensure uninterrupted coverage will enable the policyholder to get the best possible coverage at the most competitive prices.
f) Most companies have minimum and maximum entry ages for their policies and it is important to check these before opting for an insurance policy. Many companies also insist on mandatory medical tests once the proposer crosses a certain age (usually 40 to 45 years of age) and, hence, it is advisable to avail of insurance cover before this age.
g) It is also advisable to get your insurance consultant to brief you thoroughly on the salient features and benefits of the insurance policy you intend to purchase and also obtain a comparison between various insurance policies on offer to decide which one best suits your needs.
h) Medical insurance policies, like all others, have exclusions and it is equally important to understand what is not covered under a policy. Understanding the exclusions will go a long way in sparing you the frustration associated with the rejection of a claim.
i) Many medical insurance policies provide add-on benefits either free or at nominal additional cost. It is always worthwhile to check out these benefits since they cover certain expenses, which would not otherwise be covered.

Some prominent add-on benefits include:
a) Hospital cash allowance
b) Home nursing
c) Parent accommodation as a companion for children
d) Ambulance charges
e) Cover for charges on in-patient physiotherapy
f) Cover for expenses incurred by accompanying person
g) Children's education fund

It is also recommended that apart from investing in a basic medical policy that covers expenses incurred during hospitalisation, one should look at other policies that provide comprehensive medical coverage.

Some of the important products to be considered include:
a) Critical illness policies

b) Hospital cash policies

c) High deductible policies
c) Income Tax Benefits
Investing in medical insurance also entitles customers for tax deduction under section 80D of the Income-Tax Act.

In short, purchasing a medical insurance policy is a serious, deliberate and long-term decision. It is very important for one to opt for a custom-made product to suit their specific individual needs. Expending some time and effort to select policies with the most comprehensive coverage would be a very worthwhile investment that would guarantee piece of mind.

Important update
Basically it is the fact that if you don’t claim for medical expenses then your annual premium will be wasted but nowadays LIC has introduced Health plus plan. This policy will invest in bonds etc and will give you returns at the time of maturity. Given this scenario LIC has launched Health Plus plan, a unique long term health insurance plan that combines health insurance covers for the entire family (husband, wife and the children) - Hospital Cash Benefit (HCB) and Major Surgical Benefit (MSB) along with a ULIP component (investment in the form of Units) that is specifically designed to meet domiciliary treatment (DTB) related expenses for the insured members.
for more details please visit at http://www.daytradingshares.com


For more information you can visit following two links
http://www.licindia.in/images/health_plus_brochure.pdf

The money back health insurance plan from Bank of Baroda and Andra Bank, please visit below links for more information,
http://www.indiafirstlife.com/web/insurancestore/money-back-health-plan

http://www.indiafirstlife.com/downloadPDF/DownloadFormsBrochures/IndiaFirst_Money_Back_Health_Insurance_Plan_Brochure_V14_with_SFIN_No_300911.pdf