Living With Healthy Hunger Health Blog
As we grow up, we enter the workforce and build towards our future. We work hard to protect and secure our financial future. While we may achieve our financial goals through hard work, unpredictable events like illnesses and severe injuries can impact the roadmap for our future. Along with this, getting the correct medical assistance may disrupt our financial stability. However, you can get adequate medical assistance on time without breaking into your savings with a medical insurance policy.
What is Health Insurance?
Health insurance policies are insurance products that offer you financial coverage if you are dealing with medical issues like illnesses or injuries. Health insurance is an agreement whereby an insurer will guarantee coverage for medical expenses if you’re hospitalized for a specific reason. While the health insurance policy can be quite an effective way to deal with medical expenses, certain individuals may wonder if the purchase is worth it or not.
Are Medical Insurance Policies Worth it?
Many individuals deal with this question in their minds when thinking about making the purchase or not. However, most individuals today lead unhealthy lifestyles without thinking about their consequences in the future. When we are young, our physical strength and immunity are quite strong. However, as we grow old, our body’s strength begins to deteriorate, and we begin facing several medical issues. Therefore, the need for medical attention may arise. While getting the treatment may not be a problem, dealing with the medical bills can severely impact our financial stability. However, we only have to focus on recuperating with a medical insurance plan, as the medical bills are handled. Health insurance policies also offer several additional benefits.
Seven Lesser-known Benefits of Health Insurance
- No upper-cap on policy renewal: Health insurance policies have an upper limit set for the age at which you can purchase the plan. The age is usually around 70-80 years. While the renewal age is extended a bit, it doesn’t go beyond 90 years of age. However, to ensure that individuals protect themselves at these ages, insurance companies allow policyholders to renew the policy until they pass away. In addition, the lifelong renewal feature allows you to renew the plan lifelong so that you are covered under the health plan even when you are 90 years of age.
- Tax benefits: The premium that you pay towards health insurance is exempt from taxation under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. The health insurance tax benefits differ based on the age of the policyholder. If you’re under the age of 60, you can claim a maximum deduction of ₹25,000. If the policy is purchased for an individual who is above 60, you can claim an additional deduction of ₹60,000.
- Coverage for pre-existing illnesses: Many insurance companies offer insurance coverage for pre-existing medical illnesses to a policyholder. With this feature, you can get insurance coverage for treating a medical issue that you had before purchasing the insurance policy. However, certain insurance companies have a specific waiting period for this feature. The waiting period can range between 2 to 3 years. With this feature in the health insurance plan, you will not have to worry about dealing with the medical costs from your pocket.
- Post and pre-hospitalization cover: Based on the variant of health insurance you select, the insurance company will offer to deal with your medical expenses in the 30 to 60-day interval just before the hospitalization. Along with this, the insurer also offers assistance for the medical expenses you may face after the 60 to 90-day period. This coverage was included in the plan because insurance companies understand that the medical assistance you may need is not over once you’re discharged from the hospital.
- Ambulance cost cover: If you were facing an emergency and needed an ambulance to transport you to the hospital, your medical insurance will cover the costs. The health insurance policy will handle the cost of transporting an individual. With this feature, you will not have to worry about the costs related to your transport during an emergency.
- Top-ups: There are several different stages in our lives like getting married, being promoted to a new position, etc. As these moments bring a new change in our life, we may wish to enhance our health insurance coverage. However, getting a new insurance policy may be quite stressful. Therefore, to help policyholders improve the insurance coverage of their existing plan, insurance companies allow you to rely on top-ups. A top-up for your existing health insurance policy allows you to enhance your health insurance coverage. Different insurance companies also offer top-up health insurance policies to help customers update their insurance coverage.
- Alternative medical treatment: While many individuals opt for the traditional allopathy treatment, some of us prefer alternative treatments like Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy, etc. Therefore, insurance companies have made provisions in the insurance policy to help you get the insurance coverage for the treatment suitable for you. Therefore, you will get health insurance coverage even if you opt for non-traditional methods of treatment. It is an excellent feature, as you get medical coverage based on your requirements and suitability.
Conclusion
Thus, you are protected from different illnesses and rising medical expenses with a health insurance plan. It is an effective way to get the medical assistance you need without diving into your life savings. Along with this, the health insurance plan also offers various other benefits with the plan. With these benefits, you will be able to beat your medical issue without stressing over the bills!
