Know About New Age Features of Health Insurance in India

Health insurance takes care of your financial woes amid rising medical inflation and also gives an assurance that quality healthcare facilities will be available to you at the time of need. The importance of availing health insurance cannot be overstated, but equally important is timely assessment of your plan and actively looking out for other options, so that you get the most comprehensive plan with the latest health insurance features.

With insurance providers vying for customers and the evolving landscape of health insurance in the country, you certainly wouldn’t want to miss all the new age health insurance features. This is where the need for constant reappraisal and reassessment springs in. While the old insurance plans had limited options, the new age health insurance plans are both constantly improving service delivery and widening the coverage net. Sifting through the fine print of health insurance policy documents can be a time-consuming process and may end up sowing seeds of confusion if you don’t know the main features of health policy.

To make your evaluation of insurance policies simpler and quicker, here are the new age health insurance features that you should check for before buying a policy.

1. Alternative Treatments

Due to stressful lifestyles and for post-recovery relaxation, more and more people these days opt for alternative therapies and treatments. Alternative medicine like Ayurveda, Sidha and Unani are also gaining in numbers. Earlier, alternative treatments were not at all covered under a health insurance plan. This changed, however, in 2013 when IRDAI laid down new guidelines for including alternative treatments under health insurance cover. In order to fulfil the soaring expectations of customers, a lot of health insurance providers have included alternative treatment. While you are looking for an affordable health insurance plan, do check whether or not alternative treatment is covered.

2. Complimentary Health Check-Ups

Routine health check-ups are crucial for a number of reasons: for timely diagnosis of any existing disorder; to check the progress made in treatment; to keep a tab on crucial bodily parameters like blood pressure, oxygen level etc to know whether you are healthy or not; and to check if your lifestyle is impairing your health. There are health insurance plans that provide for a select number of health check-ups, though their terms & conditions may vary. If check-up is included in the health insurance plan, then not only will it save money, but you are more likely to go for it and get an early diagnosis in case something's wrong. While buying a plan, always see whether it includes vital health insurance features like free health check-ups or not.

3. Hospitalization Expense

There are medical emergencies that require immediate hospitalization. Ensuring hassle-free hospital admission is among the key features of a health policy, so that you can seek it whenever you want without any delay. Both pre-and-post hospitalization expenses are usually covered in health insurance policies. Pre-hospitalization expenses could be blood tests, urine tests or anything that the doctor prescribes before hospitalization.

Normally, health insurance companies cover pre-hospitalization expenses for anytime between 30-90 days, based on their terms and conditions. After discharge from the hospitals, some other check-ups or therapies may be required for recovery. They come under post-hospitalization expenses, but only if prescribed by the doctor. Before going ahead to choose an affordable health insurance plan, always check for the hospitalization expense cover and the stipulated conditions.

4. Maternity Expense

Women can develop health complications both during pregnancy and after giving birth. To reduce the financial burden and ensure quality maternal health, look for a health insurance plan that covers all pregnancy related complications. There are some plans that provide benefit cover for the new-born baby too for the first three months, while others cover all vaccinations till the child turns 1-year-old. Certain insurance providers also increase the cover limit for the second child, if maternity cover was taken for the first child as well. In case of a health card and cashless mediclaim policy, you don't have to wait for reimbursement even. All health insurance features covered under the plan can be availed using card and without any payment.

5. Home Treatment

Due to reasons like old age, medical infirmity, degenerative disease etc, there are patients who prefer home treatment over hospital admission. There are certain health insurance plans that provide for home treatment for a pre-specified duration. However, in some insurance plans, the home admission option is only there if the hospital bed is unavailable. Home treatment policies vary from company to company, so it's best to check out for the terms & conditions regarding the available health insurance features.

6. Digital Assistance

With the advent of digitalization, many health insurance companies allow the option of online buying, renewal, cancellation, claim filing, query, complaint etc. Most of the information to buy health insurance is just a click away now a days.

Conclusion

Health insurance companies frequently come up with new offerings so that their policies remain at-par with the latest developments in the booming health insurance sector. Those who don't assess their insurance plans and also explore what's new in the market, are likely to miss out on new and attractive health insurance features. Health being the most important wealth is proverbial, and to preserve it, it's essential to check-out new features of health policy. If you note down the striking health insurance features like hospitalization expense, maternity expense, alternative therapy, home treatment, free medical check-ups etc, it gets fairly easy and smooth for you to compare and analyse affordable health insurance plans and then decide which one would be best for you and your family. Also, make it a habit to check for latest health insurance features so that you always get the best-deal and have ample options to choose from. Buy health insurance only after validating all of the features.