Why Should you opt for Adequate Health Insurance Cover?
Mohit Mishra (32-years-old) works in a renowned private company in Hyderabad. Mohit is covered under the corporate group health insurance plan from his employer. That’s why Mohit didn’t purchase any individual health insurance plan. Last year, Mohit had an accident, and for that, he was hospitalized in a super specialty hospital.
Once he was discharged, the hospital handed over an Rs. 5 lakh bill to him for his treatment cost. So, his corporate group health insurance policy was exhausted utterly to pay this bill amount. But again, in the latter half of 2020, Mohit got infected with the COVID-19. He developed some breathing complications, and his oxygen level was below 90, so Mohit shifted to another hospital for the treatment of corona. After the completion of his treatment, the hospital provided him with a bill of Rs. 2.5 lakh. This amount Mohit paid from his pocket as his corporate group plan had already been exhausted, and he had no individual or floater health insurance policy. At that time, Mohit realized that he should purchase a separate basic health insurance plan that will offer him adequate coverage against various diseases, including corona.
The penetration of health insurance in India is very poor. Only one-fifth of its total population is covered under various health insurance policies. The average sum insured is less than Rs. 2 lakh for those covered under health policies. Because people think that by paying health insurance premiums, they are wasting their money, but this perception was changed drastically when the entire nation was crippled down due to the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Though some people purchased various health insurance policies, still the coverage was insufficient to deal with their growing healthcare needs and requirements. Moreover, you can’t ignore the exponential growth of medical inflation that raises the cost of treatment with each passing day.
During the peak of the COVID-19, the cost of a 15-day-hospitalization at an established hospital in an urban city was nearly Rs. 5 lakh per person. Since coronavirus is highly transmissible, it has been found that, in many cases, the entire family got infected with the virus and all of them needed extensive care at hospitals. In this scenario, the cumulative expenses may reach some of the lakhs, and thus, they can’t sustain themselves without having adequate health insurance coverage.
Lower Sum Insured Health Plans will not Work Anymore
Earlier, there was a misconception that a policy of Rs. 2 lakh sum insured is sufficient for an individual. On the other hand, a family-floater policy with Rs 7-10 lakh sums insured is satisfactory enough to take care of their all healthcare needs. But these sums insured will not support you completely when you need a high level of treatment.
These days, an organ transplant cost is between Rs. 20-40 lakh. So, your Rs.2 lakh health policy will only meet up with the marginal cost of the treatment. The same goes for a family floater policy. It has been found that a lower sum insured family floater policy is unable to support all financial costs of the treatments of family members. Moreover, if all of them get hospitalized simultaneously for their treatments (like a COVID-19 situation), you need to purchase a higher sum insured family floater plan. Else, you need to borrow money from friends and relatives to pay off the bills. These days, people have understood the importance of health insurance policies; they need to understand the significance of adequate health insurance coverage that will meet all their thriving healthcare requirements.
As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data, the number of cancer cases in India will rise by 1.5 million by 2025 (up from 1.39 million in 2020). Moreover, heart diseases are also in an upward trend in the country, along with stroke (which has increased by over 50% over the last three decades). These days, diabetes and hypertension are the two most common causes that most people in the country are suffering from.
With the advent of newer technologies now, you will get improved and effective healthcare facilities for various ailments in India. But these new-aged treatments are costlier. So, your health insurance policy may not be sufficient to offer adequate coverage against these treatments. For example, if you obtained a health policy with the sum insured of Rs 5-10 lakh, then it is insufficient to offer coverage for serious/fatal diseases.
This coverage is not suitable for critical illnesses treatments. Because in India, the treatment cost of critical illnesses is between Rs 30-40 lakh. If you take into account medical inflation, this cost will increase 10 folds within 9-10 years. Thus, evaluating all these situations, always opt for a higher sum insured policy.
These days, the markets are thronged with 1 crore health insurance policies that will offer sufficient coverage for your healthcare requirements. These policies are designed prudently as a combination of a basic plan along with a super top-up plan. These top-up plans will eventually lessen your premium amount against these policies.
This deadly COVID-19 pandemic has forced many people to choose the health plans of the higher sum insured. Though people have understood the importance of health insurance in points, only 5 percent purchased health insurance plans with Rs 20 lakh – Rs 1 cr sum insured. But, now, more than 50 percent of people are investing in health insurance plans with higher sum insured (in the last 12 months).
These higher sums insured health insurance plans are ideal for those who have a family history of critical ailments like heart diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Health insurance plans that offer adequate cover compensate for hospitalization costs, pre and post-hospitalization expenses, ambulance costs, and organ donor expenses.
Nowadays, people are more prone to various critical illnesses because of their sedentary lifestyle and unwholesome food habits. Moreover, pandemics like the COVID-19 can hit at any time and will drain you emotionally, physically, and monetarily. So, by purchasing adequate health insurance coverage, you can strengthen your and your family’s protection against various diseases and medical inflation.
