Importance And Benefits Of Medical Insurance

In today's time, the cost of healthcare in the country has risen significantly thanks to the ever-growing demand for medical services. That along with increasing awareness about medicine and preventive measures against illness has rendered medical insurance all the more essential. Having a health insurance comes handy in times of medical emergencies. Many individuals often have to use funds from their savings in case of a medical emergency, which not only impacts their financial health but also jeopardises personal goals such as education and marriage. By assessing his or her financial position and requirement closely, one can plan and financially prepare against medical emergencies through a medical insurance plan.

Here are some reasons why having a medical insurance policy is important as well as beneficial:

Medical services are expensive

Rising cost of medical treatment makes subscription to an appropriate medical insurance policy. However, when it comes to medical insurance, investment decisions are fruitful only if they are well-informed and well-researched, say experts. Therefore, a suitable medical insurance policy can provide protection against inflation.

Flexibility

Today, insurers offer a wide range of medical insurance policies with numerous features and facilities to choose from. Because of excessive variation available today, while there are hundreds of options available for the potential policyholder to match with his or her medical insurance requirements, it becomes a tedious task to make the right decision. This is why experts often stress the importance of learning about various aspects of insurance in order to best fulfil one's insurance needs.

Cumulative bonus or no-claim bonus

For every year in which a claim is not filed by a policyholder against a medical insurance plan, the insurer pays a bonus to the customer in the form of additional cover. A medical insurance plan may not provide a desired cover in the first year, but offer a significant amount as cumulative bonus in subsequent years. Some insurers also offer this bonus in the form of discount in the premium payable in subsequent years, whereas others even offer this bonus as a combination of both.

Pre- and post-hospitalisation cost coverage

Today, most insurance companies also cover both pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses in some medical plans. In other words, this means that not only costs incurred with respect to main treatment (received by the insured while he or she is admitted in a hospital) are covered, but also those arising out of tests and consultation fees beyond that. However, there are certain time constraints to avail such cover. Besides, insurers often also cover transportation charges.

Riders

Medical insurance policies come in many forms. While some insurers cover preventive check-ups and doctor's consultation charges in their medical insurance policies, others offer protection against multiple critical illnesses. Simply put, a rider offers specific features under a policy in addition to main features under certain conditions. For example, today a customer can buy an regular insurance policy and get a rider that provides protection against a defined set of critical illnesses such as heart disease and cancer; another option is to purchase an independent critical illness insurance policy, wherein the insurers provides a lump sum in case the insured is diagnosed with any of the eligible critical illnesses.

Income tax deduction

Having a medical insurance policy entails up to Rs55,000of deduction in taxable income in a year (against payment of premium) under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. This includes premium paid towards insurance for self, spouse, children and senior citizen parents.

Cashless facility

Within a defined network of hospitals, many medical insurance providers today provide a cashless facility with their policies under certain conditions. This can be very beneficial as in case of an emergency, the insurer pays for eligible expenses directly to the institution, therefore not requiring the policyholder to bear the expenses from his or her own pocket. This very feature ensures that the customers does not have to feel the impact of immediate cash requirement should an emergency occur. In many cases, a third party administrator or TPA pays the bill directly to the hospital.

Alternative treatment

Many insurers today provide cover alternative treatment methods (such as Ayurveda and homeopathy) in their medical insurance plans under certain conditions, in addition to conventional medicine. This does not restrict the insured to undergo medical treatment outside of his or her preferred methods, thereby offering more flexibility.

Health check-ups

Among other features, many medical insurance plans offer period health check-ups free of cost under certain conditions. In many cases, even these check-ups are covered through a cashless mode, wherein the insured is not required to bear the expense from his or her own pocket at any given time.

Today, there are many health insurance plans available in the market such as individual health insurance, family health insurance, critical illness insurance and personal accident insurance, among many others. Having a health insurance is an essential part of financial planning, say financial experts. General insurance company IFFCO Tokio offers several medical insurance products, such as Individual Health Protector Policy, Family Health Protector Policy and Personal Accidental Insurance Policy.