How to manage the cost of a Diabetes Health Insurance
In the era of approximately 10,000 diseases floating in the world and only 500 cures being available, health has become an important aspect of everyone’s life. Being healthy does not only mean being fit; it means making the right choice about every item affecting your life directly or indirectly. Health is a lifestyle, a lifestyle one must always choose and prioritize over all else.
Having good health not only means looking and feeling good. It also helps protect oneself from various chronic diseases. Awareness about having a healthy lifestyle has been imparted yet people today do not wish to follow it and end up making the wrong choices. Choosing junk over healthy food just because it is yummier is not justifiable, one needs to understand that junk food has long term negative impact on your health and well-being.
The choice made by a consumer today directly affects the health and thereby leads to serious situations which eventually tend to spiral out of control. The good news is that health can be monitored and regulated and above all, it can also be protected with an insurance policy! The concept of insurance came into the picture to protect an individual’s health by providing them financial support.
Health insurance:
Health insurance provides wide coverage to various diseases under a single policy, this helps a person enjoy comprehensive benefits about the same. The various conditions covered under health insurance are accidental cover, blood pressure, heart diseases, maternity, organ transplant, mental health, diabetes, and more. Health insurance has one catch though, the catch is that even though the policy covers several conditions, each disease has a sub-limit. Sub-limit means that the insurance company caps the sum assured per disease thereby, restricting the coverage. In emergencies, one shall not worry about the same, and thus the existence of disease-specific policy came into the picture.
Disease-specific coverage:
In a disease-specific policy, the insurance company assures the entire sum insured to be used for covering the policyholder. The coverage offered under this type of policy is vast and not restricted. A person suffering from a serious chronic disease can purchase such a plan as it always works for the benefit of the policyholder.
Diabetes health insurance:
It is a type of disease-specific insurance. Under this insurance, the entire sum assured is used for curing the said disease. Having such a policy works to one’s benefits as the coverage offered is not capped or restricted. It means that the insured need not worry about crossing a specific sub-limit or face any losses of paying for treatment from their private resources. It helps one deal with the situation efficiently by undertaking quality treatment without any worry.
Manage the cost of Diabetes Health insurance:
Due to rapid developments in the scientific field, there has been a rise in medical inflation thereby, making medical treatment extremely expensive. Diabetes is a serious condition, and according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the total cost of the diagnosis of diabetes is around $327 in 2017. The report also states that the prescription medicines given by medical practitioners account for 30% of the total medical costs.
Some of the methods to save costs are:
- Online pharmacy
As medical treatment costs are increasing every year, it has become a trend to shop for medicines online so as to get the most of online discounts. People have begun searching for alternatives, and thus online pharmacies came into the limelight. While purchasing from online stores make sure to first verify the organization and have a background check, as the number of mock-up practitioners is increasing online. Make sure to also check if the pharmacy is associated with a reputable organization. A fake pharmacy may not ask for a prescription, and thus one shall differentiate and understand. Some of the neutral enablers are websites like Net Meds and Pharm Easy, among others.
- Government programs
The government introduces various awareness campaigns, and along with that certain schemes and offers are further followed. These policies work for the benefit of the insured, and thus one can gain financial support from the same. For the government schemes, a certain amount in a huge chunk is kept aside to provide such policies.
- Non-profit organizations
Various non-profit organizations (NPO/NGO) provide financial support to people in society. They collaborate with unique professionals for helping people face such a situation. Such NGO’s raise money from society for a pure reason and helps one cure.
- Pharmacy assistance programs
Such programs are offered by pharmaceutical companies to help one afford medications. Many such pharmacies offer low-cost generic list to the patient along with the health medical practitioner as a guide. Manufacturer programs can also help in cutting down the costs of medicines for people eligible under a certain category. Such a program targets the low-income group and runs a background check to understand their financial situation. Pharmacies also provide a helping hand by offering diets and exercises for the well-being of the patient.
- Group health insurance
One can include themselves in a group health insurance as even though the coverage offered is minimal but the premium payable is also less thus, making the plan affordable.
These are some of the major ways through which one can manage their expenses related to diabetes, and at least reduce them to some extent.
Having disease-specific insurance coverage always works for the benefit of the policy purchaser as the person can enjoy wide coverage under the policy. A diabetes health insurance covers the disease directly, and thus no waiting period needs to be served. Under health insurance, a waiting period of 1 to 4 years needs to be served in exchange for capped sum assured. An initial waiting period of 30 to 90 days is applicable in diabetic-specific insurance so that the insured shall not take undue advantage of the coverage offered by the insurance company. The insured can also enjoy the benefit of tax exemption under section 80D of the Income-tax Act, 1961. During emergencies, one has to not worry about the financial situation as such a policy helps decrease stress. Usually, diabetes is not generally covered under health insurance which means that an additional premium needs to be paid for receiving the coverage. Diabetes is treated as a pre-existing disease and thus if the policy purchaser is undergoing such a situation then the individual has to serve a waiting period of 1 to 4 years. The coverage under general health insurance is restricted, and to enjoy wide coverage, the person shall purchase diabetes health insurance. It is a concept that if the person wishes to purchase diabetes health insurance, then before buying it, the individual shall make sure that their diabetes level is under control for the last 6 to 12 months to apply for lower-premium diabetes health insurance. One should have a balanced diet, be physically active along with maintaining normal glucose levels. One can also apply for group health insurance plans as the premiums payable under the same is less in comparison to private health insurance policies.”Manage
What is the advantage for me to buy diabetes health insurance?
I have health insurance covering diabetes, then why shall I buy diabetes insurance?
How can I get affordable diabetes health insurance?