Health Insurance Changes: Health insurance is very important for financial security. Over time, companies are making some such changes in health insurance products, which are making them more useful…
Health Insurance Update: In today’s era, insurance especially health insurance has become necessary for financial security. It is also said that calamities and diseases do not come after telling. Now in the era of Corona epidemic, everyone has come to know this very well. Whenever diseases come, they suddenly bring big expenses with them and spoil the entire budget. In this case, ‘Health Insurance’ comes in handy. It provides financial security to people in case of sudden illnesses. Some changes in recent times have increased the value of health insurance.
Amit Chhabra, head of health insurance at Policybazaar.com, says that there has historically been a low awareness of health insurance in India. However, now a change is coming. Insurance industry is offering affordable products as per the needs of the customers. Apart from this, companies are adding new facilities with health insurance, due to which these products are becoming more useful for the customers.
Let’s know about these changes…
OPD Coverage
Health insurance generally comes in handy only when you have to be hospitalized. Although many times it happens in diseases that there is no need to be admitted for treatment. People get cured by showing in OPD itself. But in such cases the burden of OPD or doctor’s fees etc. falls. Now many companies have started covering the cost of doctor’s consultation, pharmacy, diagnostics, telemedical consultation and other expenses incurred on medical related things. Bringing OPD expenses under the coverage of health insurance policy is being liked a lot. It cannot be denied that this change will prove to be a milestone in the direction of providing a bigger market to the health insurance industry and the product.
Cashless Hospitalization
If suddenly someone needs to be admitted to the hospital, then the first problem arises to deposit the lump sum amount. Many hospitals demand a lump sum amount even before admitting the patient according to the disease and condition. In such a situation, there is a huge financial burden on the relatives of the patient. In many cases, due to this the treatment gets delayed and very bad results come out. Health insurance removes this problem. Insurance regulator IRDA has increased the scope of cashless hospitalization in cases of health insurance. Due to this, the network of those hospitals in the country has become very large, where patients who have taken health insurance can easily get admitted without worrying about cash and can avail the right treatment on time.
Mental Health Coverage
Generally people ignore mental health or mental problems. There are many reasons for not taking such problems seriously. First, it doesn’t seem to cause immediate harm and second, there is a lack of awareness about mental health and its treatment. Educated people also know little or nothing about mental illness. Now things are changing a bit and its awareness is increasing among the people. Regulator IRDA has also made it mandatory for all insurance companies to now offer mental health coverage with comprehensive health insurance policies. Now in such cases patients can also take advantage of the coverage of OPD treatment.
Coverage up to Senior Citizen
As the age of people increases, the risk of diseases also increases. In such a situation, health insurance becomes more important for older people i.e. senior citizens. Till now the range of products available in the market for this category was limited. Now insurance companies are launching new products to meet the changing needs of the customers. These products offer features like shortest waiting period, reduction in co-payments, low or no sub-limits and increased sum assured on each year of renewal. Apart from this, now health insurance products are also available in the market for super seniors i.e. people above 80 years of age.
