Health Insurance

 Ans: Health insurance plans offer various kinds of discounts to people. You can avail family discount, long-term discount, and over loyalty depending on the policy terms and conditions. Moreover, you can also avail no claim bonus during policy renewals if you have not raised any claims in the last policy tenure. 

 Ans: There is no right or wrong age to buy a health insurance policy. However, it is suggested to buy it as early as possible to keep your premium low. The earlier you buy health insurance, the lesser would be the premium. This is because you have a lesser risk of health issues at a young age as compared to someone who is in their mid-50s or 60s, as they are more prone to critical illnesses. Therefore, if you buy health insurance in your 30s, you will be able to avail maximum insurance benefits that too at a lower premium.

 Ans: Medical tests are not mandatory before buying a health insurance policy. However, most health insurance companies in India require medical test reports if the age of the applicants is above 45 years. The type of medical tests required can vary depending on the age of the applicant and the insurer’s requirement.

 Ans : Cashless hospitalization means that the in-patient treatment charges availed by the insured are paid by the insurance company directly to the hospital. All insurance companies in India have a tie-up with a large network of hospitals where the insured/policyholder can avail cashless treatment for an illness or accidental injury.

 Ans: Pre-hospitalization expenses refer to the medical expenses incurred before getting admitted to a hospital. Post-hospitalization expenses refer to the cost of follow-up tests and consultation treatment charges incurred after getting discharged from the hospital. Health plans in India mostly cover pre-hospitalization expenses for up to 30 to 60 days and post-hospitalization expenses for up to 60 to 90 days, depending on the plan.

 Ans: There are no documents required as such for purchasing a health insurance policy. You may only have to undergo a pre-policy medical check-up if you are a senior citizen. However, you must have a valid proof of your identity, address, age, etc., when you need to file a claim with your insurer.

 Ans: Yes, you must buy a separate health insurance policy in addition to your employer’s health insurance policy for better coverage. The sum insured under an employer’s health insurance is usually between ₹2 lakh and ₹5 lakh, which might not be sufficient under the current medical inflation. To cover the various expensive treatment costs, it is important to have a separate health insurance plan of a minimum of ₹10 lakh.