Health Insurance Categories and Benefits

Why think of buying a health insurance to secure your and your family’s healthcare needs in case a situation arises in the future?



Before we get into the benefits of health insurance, let briefly understand at the two categories of health insurance products:

1. Mediclaim Policies: Also known as indemnity health plans, a mediclaim policy reimburses the expenses incurred on hospitalization as per the actual hospital bill amount. If you are covered under such a policy, you can get your hospitalization expenses compensation depending on your claim details, terms/conditions of the policy and coverage amount. These types of Health plans are sold by general insurance companies. Although they may be marginally cheaper than other health insurance products, payout is not guaranteed.

2. Fixed benefit health insurance plans: Unlike indemnity plans, these plans provide guaranteed fixed benefit payouts irrespective of the actual hospital bill amount. These plans focus on helping the insured meet the cost of two major heads of medical expenses – hospital room charges and cost of surgery. The plan has a fixed payout for each day of hospitalisation and a fixed payout for different categories of surgeries. These are called fixed payouts because the insured, in the case of a valid claim, will get this amount from the insurance company, irrespective of the actual expense incurred.

Benefits of health insurance

Here are a few benefits that accrue to you when you buy health insurance for yourself and your family:

1. Financial security: Treat a health insurance policy as a contingency plan made to make things easier when the going gets tough for you and your family in terms of health issues. A health insurance plan like “family floater” can safeguard you and your family together against medical costs, plus it also comes cheap as compared to policies taken on individual names.

2.Best medical care: As health insurance companies pay for the hospital treatment (up to the insured amount), you can get yourself or a family member (who is also covered under the policy) in the best hospital in your city. Most large health insurance companies are tied up with top notch health care providers across the country. As such, you have at your disposal the best doctors, hospital and clinics, if the need arises.

3. Covers your savings:If you have been in a medical emergency situation, you realise how emotionally challenging such a time is. The problem worsens in case you don’t have a health insurance to take care of the expensive hospitalisation expenses, which may lead you to pull out money from your savings. Health insurance acts like a saviour during emergency situations, which can strike anytime. It ensures that your savings/investment plan remains unaltered.

4. Peace of mind: Having health insurance frees you from the stress of any potential health emergency. Stress, as you know, is a big killer. The fact that a health insurance policy can help you get over this demon says a lot about the importance of such a policy in your life.