In
times of increasing illness and stress, every person needs sufficient
health
insurance
for himself and his loved ones. Despite knowing the benefits of
health insurance policies,
however, people take insufficient health cover so that they have to
pay lower premiums. The fallacy of this thinking becomes apparent
when one meets with a serious accident or dies, and the family has to
bear the brunt of huge medical expenses without health
insurance.
Here
are 5 myths associated with health
insurance
that one should dispel at the earliest:
1. The only benefit of health insurance is for tax rebates.
Many people
erroneously believe that buying health
insurance policies will give them tax benefits. Hence, they
buy a policy based on how much rebate they can get in every financial
year. One needs to purchase health insurance plans for future
security, not tax rebates. Hence, it is important to buy a policy
that gives sufficient coverage and several benefits to the whole
family.
2. You are
ineligible for health insurance if you have a disease.
This is completely false. You may have to pay a higher premium, and
you can claim insurance money for treatment of your disease only
after a certain time period has elapsed. However, all health
insurance policies in India come with a pre-existing disease
clause; the benefits of the policy will fructify later than others.
It is permissible to take the best
health insurance despite a pre-existing disease, however,
certain conditions are to be met.
3. You cannot
get health insurance if you are not admitted to hospital.
This used to be
true earlier in India. Today, however, health insurance in India
is growing steadily and insurance providers are making sure that
customers receive the benefits of insurance without or without
hospitalisation. Health insurance policies today cover even
pre-hospitalisation medical expenses as well as post-operative care
and therapy. Some insurance policies also give the policy holder a
daily allowance during hospital stay, while others also pay for OPD
expenses.
4. Health
insurance is only for ‘serious’ causes.
This is
absolutely untrue. Many people are stunned to discover that health
insurance can cover OPD expenses, give daily cash allowance, pay
for minor surgery and even cover the expenses of maternity and
pregnancy check-ups. However, one must check the conditions of the
policy for coverage, as also the time that needs to elapse for
claiming benefits after the policy is activated.
5. Cashless
insurance is available everywhere.
To avail of the
cashless insurance benefit, the hospital treating the patient MUST be
connected to the cashless treatment network. One cannot expect this
benefit from every hospital. Conversely, one must include the
treating hospital in the hospital reimbursement claim to avail of the
insurance money.
