Complete Guide to Health Insurance in India

A health insurance policy covers medical expenses incurred as a result of an accident, illness, or injury. An individual can purchase such insurance for a set period of time by paying monthly or annual premiums.

During this time, if an insured individual is involved in an accident or is diagnosed with a serious disease, the insurance company will cover the costs of treatment.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is a type of product policy that pays for a person’s medical and surgical expenses. It reimburses expenses incurred as a result of illness or accident or pays the covered individual’s care provider directly.

The most crucial and cost-effective strategy to safeguard your finances is to purchase health insurance. It is a critical decision that demands attention while purchasing. To put it another way, you can’t get the best deal if you don’t know what kinds and best health insurance plans in India are available!

A clinic, hospital, doctor, laboratory, healthcare practitioner, or pharmacy that offers treatment for an individual’s ailment is referred to as a “provider” by insurers.

The “insured” is the person who has health insurance coverage or is the owner of the health insurance policy.

What Are the Benefits of Health Insurance Plans?

For a variety of reasons, purchasing health insurance is critical. Take a look at some of the most important features of your health insurance policies:

1. Pre and Post Hospitalization Charges
2. Hospitalization Expenses
3. Treatment against critical illnesses
4. Accidents and disease-related hospitalization coverage
5. Capping Intense Care Unit (ICU) Room Charges
6. Coverage Against Mental Disorders
7. Organ Donation Charges
8. Covering Expenses for Transplanting Organs
9. Cost of Bariatric Surgery
10. Rent Capping for Rooms
11. Day Care Procedures
12. Easy Cashless Claims

Type of Health Insurance in India

The exponential rise in the cost of good healthcare has made it mandatory for everyone to get health insurance. Health insurance protects you from the financial consequences of an unplanned hospitalization or sickness. Purchasing the best health insurance plan is simple if approached correctly. 

In this regard, you should be familiar with the various types of health insurance policies in order to ensure adequate coverage. The following is an overview of the various types of health insurance that you might choose depending on your insurance requirements

There are two types of health insurance policies available in India:

1. Insurance Policies
2. Defined-Benefit Plans 

Insurance Policies or Indemnity Plans

Traditional health insurance, indemnity plans reimburse your hospitalization charges up to the amount insured. These plans include the following:

1. Family Floater Health Insurance
2. Individual Health Insurance
3. Senior Citizen Health Insurance 
4. Group Health Insurance
5. Maternity Insurance
6. Top-up Health Insurance

Defined-Benefit Plans

A defined-benefit plan, on the other hand, compensates the insured with a lump-sum payment upon the identification of disease. These plans include the following:

1. Critical Illness Plan
2. Personal Accident Plan
3. Hospitalization Cash Benefit Plan

Among all, Critical Illness Plan is considered to be the Best Health Insurance Plans, out of all the policies available, because it covers a wide range of catastrophic medical emergencies mentioned below:

1. Major Organ Transplant
2. All types of Cancers
3. Stroke
4. Aorta Graft Surgery
5. Multiple Sclerosis
6. Kidney Failure
7. Paralysis
8. Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
9. Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
10. Surgical Invasion

What Should You Look for While Acquiring Health Insurance Policy?

Before deciding on a plan, people should consider the following factors:

1. Benefits and Sum Insured
2. Market Reputation of Insurance Company
3. Network Hospitals
4. Routine Medical Check-ups
5. Renewability

How Does Health Insurance Works?

Health insurance, like any other type of insurance coverage, assists you in dealing with the financial consequences of an accident or emergency. Let’s look at how health insurance works in practice. 

1. When you apply to buy a plan, the process begins. Premium quotations will be offered based on your age, medical history, required sum insured, and the type of plan you’ve chosen. 
2. In some situations, you may be asked to undergo a series of medical tests before the insurance company chooses whether or not to give you the coverage you require.
3. You will be given a policy after the terms and conditions are finalized. There are a few waiting periods with each policy. The initial wait is only a few weeks or a month-long. You will not be able to file any non-emergency claims at this time.
4. Let’s imagine you need surgery after the waiting time has passed. If you’re able to have treatment at a network hospital, please inform the insurance-providing company of your surgery, and we’ll contact the hospital directly to settle all charges.
5. When you’re discharged from the hospital, you’ll just have to pay for any uncovered expenditures and the voluntary co-pay amount, if any. 
6. You can make all of your payments and then file a reimbursement claim if you’re getting treatment at a non-network hospital. In either case, you won’t have to worry about burning a hole in your pocket to acquire the treatment you need.

What is Cashless Hospitalization?

Individuals from all over the world are likely to be hospitalized for a period of time if they have a medical emergency or are involved in an accident. Hospitalization costs a lot of money. Cashless hospitalization is the greatest alternative if an individual does not have emergency funds. 

In a cashless facility, the insurance pays the bill straight to the network hospital, rather than you paying the expenses first and then being reimbursed. As a result, people from all over the world purchase a health plan that includes a cashless facility.

International Health Service Organizations for Cash-Free Acquittance

People from all over the world come to India for medical services in order to receive cashless treatment for chronic diseases, transplants, and surgeries because nations such as Africa and other European countries do not have access to such advanced medical technologies. 

Various international health service organizations, consisting all multi-specialist network hospitals on their panel in India and around the world, offer total cashless insurance policies. People looking for cashless treatments travel to India to take advantage of these services.

Those international insurance organizations are following:

1. Atena Global Benefits
2. Cigna International
3. Bupa International
4. ARMS (Asia Rescue & Medical Services)
5. Allianz Partner
6. ATMs (Asian Travel and Medical Services)
7. Bharti Assist Global Pvt Ltd.

If you’re qualified for Medicare, International health service Organizations have Medicare coverage options to meet your lifestyle and provide the ability to cover all medical expenses so you can live a healthy life without breaking your bank account.