The cost of treatment in our entire life comprises more than 65 per cent of OPD expenses. These include the cost of doctor’s fees, lab tests, medicines etc.
If the health insurance policy is not helpful in meeting this huge expenditure of ours, then we need to think again about our health cover.
Like most developing countries, OPD (Outpatient Department) cover is not available in most health insurance policies in India. Most of the health insurance policies here mainly cover those treatments which require hospitalization. These policies are usually expensive.
Insurance companies of the country sell policies with OPD cover but at times these can prove to be more expensive. This can have a big impact on the pocket of the policyholder. In such a situation, it is important to know whether taking an OPD health subscription plan is beneficial for the customers or not.
Yogesh Agarwal, founder and CEO, monthly health plan
insurance brokerage firm OnSuritylive mintTold that a right health insurance subscription model can only be one that provides holistic health facilities to the consumers. The model in which the facility of both IPD (in-patient department) and OPD is available is better health insurance. In that case, if you take a monthly health plan, then you can take full advantage of it. These services may be different for different companies.
According to Aniruddha Sen, co-founder of Kenko Health, 65 percent
is spent on OPD, more than 65 percent of the cost of treatment in our entire life includes OPD expenses. These include the cost of doctor’s fees, lab tests, medicines etc. If the health insurance policy is not helpful in meeting this huge expenditure of ours, then we need to re-think about our health cover.
He says that we should pay attention to how such expenditure dents the savings of middle-class Indian families. Many families are unable to buy health insurance because of the high annual premium. In such a situation, it is the need of the hour that the monthly health plan should be made more comprehensive and accessible.
IPD can cost Low
monthly subscription plans are available at prices ranging from Rs 299 to Rs 1,999 per month. Experts say that OPD subscription can prove to be helpful in saving your IPD insurance expenses as well.
This is because OPD products like diagnostics provide more health data at an affordable cost. This helps in early detection of diseases and makes their treatment easier. In this way it helps in saving IPD expenses.
Regular diagnostic tests (included in OPD cover) can also save you significant future medical expenses.
There are many companies that provide subscription health plans. Kenko is also one of these. These are not health insurance companies but healthcare firms. They provide healthcare services through tie-ups with insurance companies, hospitals, pharmacies, labs, web aggregators, etc. They provide price-fixed monthly OPD plans.
If you want, you can also take IPD coverage with it so that you can avoid any kind of unexpected medical expenses in future. Subscription-based health plans can save up to 20-90 per cent in doctor fees, lab tests, medicine expenses, etc.
