Category: Health Insurance

5 Important Things to Consider Before Buying Medical Insurance Policy for Your Parents

The cost of healthcare is escalating every year. Treatments, surgeries and post-operative checkups are predicted to get more expensive in future. The rising cost of health care coupled with inflation can set back any family financially during a medical emergency. Which is why now more than ever it’s essential to buy a medical insurance policy for your parents. Aged parents, particularly, could end up spending significant amounts of money at the hospital during a medical emergency and subsequent hospitalization. In order to avoid shelving heaps of cash, here are five things to seriously consider while buying health insurance plans for family:

Age for entry

Most health insurance companies offer policies for senior citizens but also state the maximum age of entry. Usually, the maximum age is set to 70 years. Which is why it’s imperative that your parents purchase a policy by 69 years of age. However, to be safe rather than sorry, procure a policy for the entire family as soon as possible.

Waiting period

Waiting period refers to the time it takes for the policy holder to report a claim. It is always a good idea to be aware of the waiting period for your parents’ medical insurance policy so as to avoid any confusion later.

Does the policy have a sub-limit on special treatments?

No matter how high a premium you pay for your parents’ health insurance, some health insurance companies are known to set a sub-limit for certain treatments. For example, you may be able to claim only rupees 40,000 for a hernia operation despite being insured for 5 lakh rupees. The premium may be high but because the company has set a sub-limit, you cannot claim more money on the cost of operation.
While buying health insurance plans for family, ensure that you buy one that has no sub-limits for special treatments even if the premium is high. Always take time to read the fine print of your policy’s terms and conditions.

Renewal age

Every health insurance provider will set a maximum age beyond which a policy holder cannot renew their policy. However, some providers do offer lifetime renewal. Always opt for a lifetime renewal plan while scouring for the best medical insurance policy for your parents.

Covering pre-existing diseases

Health insurance companies rarely cover treatment costs of pre-existing diseases in the first year of the policy. However, most start covering the cost associated with a pre-existing disease or medical condition in the second year of the policy.
It is important to conduct a meticulous research, read the terms and conditions and compare policies before purchasing one for your parents. Always take into account their medical history, existing health problems and current financial situation before buying a medical insurance policy. A little research on your part will go a long way in selecting the best policy for them.

Affordable Family Health Insurance

It is your prime responsibility to take care of your family’s needs and to fulfill all their necessities. One such family requirement is health coverage. On the other hand, every individual wants to fulfill all his/her needs within budget. So, the requirement for health cover shifts from family health insurance to affordable family health insurance.
Since the last decade, large numbers of public and private health insurance companies have started providing required health cover to the citizens of India. They have turned up in market with their different health insurance products. With innovative features, policies are equipped with several benefits. There are individual, family and group health insurance plans, accidental plans and travel plans to quench the need of quality healthcare and health insurance for one and all. All these plans differ from each other in the kind of coverage they offer. They include features and benefits as per the specific health risk. Under the particular insurance cover, the insured can seek treatment as per the policy terms.
An individual health insurance plan offers medical coverage to an insured at the time of exigency. It covers the individual with financial coverage up to the limit of sum insured.
A family health insurance plan provides the healthcare coverage to all the family members of an insured (including his/her spouse, his/her dependent parents, and his/her dependent children). All the covered members can enjoy policy coverage while in need of medical care. At the expense of single insurance premium, your dear ones can avail insurance benefits.
Group insurance plan covers the health needs of the group of people who get coverage under the plan. It may be a group of members of an organization or a group of employees.
An affordable family health insurance plan curbs down the affordability issue by offering coverage to all family members. Today health insurance has become essential for survival. People of all ages require protection from health risks as that can create a complicated situation at any stage of life. Considering this need, health insurance providers have come up with various affordable family health insurance plans. At reasonable insurance premium, plans are ready to provide comprehensive coverage to all family members.
In India, the price rise in cost of living has created a gap between people’s pocket and available services. Though best healthcare facilities are available but a major section of society is unable to afford it. Even after the facilities being available people cannot take advantage of it. The affordability issue comes a huge impediment curbing the path of people. This further leaves no other option than compromising with the quality of treatment. It further can affect the life of the person in the longer run. So, to resolve this issue and looking into the varied needs of the target customers along with an eye over the changing market dynamics, Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company has entered into the Indian Health Insurance domain. The Apollo Group of Hospitals, leader in healthcare group, has joined hands with Munich Health, Munich Re’s newest business segment and established Apollo Munich Health Insurance Company to provide affordable and best-in class healthcare solutions to Indian citizens.
Headed by the team of experts, we, at Apollo Munich, have carefully designed each product to provide maximum coverage to individual health needs. Our affordable family health insurance provides cover to all the family members of an insured. In addition to it, we also provide some value added services to our clients to shift the paradigm from ‘curative’ to ‘preventive’, so that our clients can obtain the expert’s counseling at the earliest. All our plans comes with a promise of lifelong renewal, simple policy wordings and tax benefits. Maintaining a long network chain with around 4000 hospitals in over 800 cities, with Apollo Munich you can cashless hospitalization easily. While choosing a family health plan, the buyer can even enjoy a family discount as per the related policy conditions.
We also give you the facility to buy online and get your plan renewed online, 15 days prior or after the renewal date. In mere few clicks of mouse, policy gets issued with instant confirmation. By providing basic details online, buyers can get insured devoid of any complicated or lengthy paperwork. For safe functioning of the whole process, we maintain robust payment gateways and thus ensure the confidentiality of the information provided.
So, choose a suitable affordable family health insurance and gift your dear ones a secured future. Under the coverage of a comprehensive health cover, all members can enjoy healthy life. It will provide mental relief in terms of health concern of dependent members.

A Guide to Accident Health Insurance

Accident is one of the unforeseen incidents that bring along with it lots of difficulties for the victim and his/her family members. In several cases, a person becomes disabled for his/her whole life. An accident may ruin the life of a person. It affects a person’s earning capability, which would impact the lives of all family members. At one end, physical bodily injuries play a cruel role and at the other end, the affordability of medical expenses turns out to be the biggest problem. No one can see his/her loved one grappling with pain and in the attempt to make medical treatment accessible, they borrow money from someone or sell off precious assets. These alternatives, which bring money to them, might affect them in longer run. Thus, the best tool to cope with the rising medical expenses is accident health insurance.

This product is designed, keeping in mind the medical needs of a person facing an accident. These products, known as death and disablement plans, work on the principle of benefit. It offers sum insured amount to the nominee, in case of the insured person’s death due to an accident. There is coverage for permanent or temporary disablement (a percent of the sum insured) as stated in the plan’s conditions. Furthermore, the coverage limit, in case of disablement, also depends upon bodily injuries.

Besides death and disablement, the insured is entitled to certain other benefits, which include cover for several bodily injuries, modification of vehicle, inpatient medical treatment, purchase of blood, emergency ambulance charges, family transportation, etc. The lumpsum payment that the insured gets depends upon the extent of injuries incurred and the terms and conditions of the plan. These products are the best way to offer financial assistance to family members, after the insured’s death. In addition to this, one of the distinctive features of this product is that it is easily affordable. One can purchase it at the expense of just few hundred or thousand rupees per year. The only point that an individual should keep in mind is to buy the policy from a reputed provider.

Individual Personal Accident Health Insurance plan is one of the well known accident insurance products in India. This plan is available in two variants—Standard and Premium. A person can choose as per his/her healthcare needs and budget. This product offers comprehensive coverage to the insured and his/her family, in case the insured meets with an accident.

Cashless Mediclaim

Cashless mediclaim service offers an insured person the benefit of availing medical treatment at the best hospitals, without having to pay from his/her own pocket. Hospitalization bills, up to the sum insured are directly settled by the insurance company. In this process, prior approval of the TPA (Third-Party Administrator) is required.

If cashless mediclaim facility is offered in your health insurance policy, you need not run around arranging funds at the time of medical emergency. This cashless mediclaim service can be availed only in network hospitals of the insurer.

Thus, we can say that under such facility, the insurer directly pays to the hospital for the customers’ medical treatment. And the insured is saved from running for money at a crucial time.

Cashless mediclaim service is of two types:-
Planned Claim – When an insured is aware of the hospitalization two-three days in advance, it is called planned hospitalization. In this case, the customer is advised to take a pre-authorisation at least a few days before the scheduled treatment. One can obtain the pre-authorisation forms from the hospital desk or the third party administrators (TPA) website.

Emergency Claim – When an insured person or a family member requires immediate hospitalization, either due to grave illness, an accident or any other crisis situation, it is known as emergency claim.

One must understand that it is important to inform the insurance company at the earliest about the on-going emergency treatment/surgery. Customers can ward off unnecessary hassle by carrying along their cashless card, policy number and the contact details of the insurance provider.

Alternatively, one must also share these details with their immediate family members like spouse, sibling and parents so that the procedure for getting the approval for cashless claim begins within 24hours of hospitalization.

You should remember the following while availing the cashless facility:
1. Inform your TPA before getting admitted to a hospital or in an emergency situation, you must ask one of your family members to do so.
2. Remember to take your ID card as a proof at the time of hospitalization.
3. Have necessary investigation and medical reports ready with you.
4. Provide complete information to your health insurer in the prescribed format.

Treatment in a network hospital
Every insurer has the ties up with number of hospitals across India, which is then known as the insurer’s preferred provider network (PPN). Thus, if you want to go for a cashless claim, you must necessarily be treated in a PPN hospital.

It must be understood that insurers generally have a large hospital network. But its availability depends on the location where the policyholder lives. So, it is important to check the preferred provider network before buying the policy. It must also be noted that admission into a network hospital is directly related to the availability of the beds, especially in rural areas where the medical facilities aren’t readily available.

However, there are instances when the insured person has no access to the network hospital, especially in case of emergency situation. Under such circumstances, h/she has to go for treatment in a non-network hospital, wherein later, his claims will only be settled through reimbursement.

Apollo Munich Health Insurance offers cashless mediclaim service with all its products. Know about the complete claim procedure followed by Apollo Munich here. The company’s nationwide network covers more than 4,000 hospitals, where policy holders can avail this feature to access quality health care.