Affordable healthcare in India is still in its infancy despite many policy interventions by the central government. Most of the population still lack the knowledge and importance of getting insured.
This is mainly due to lack of awareness and difficulty in choosing a plan. Thus, ensuring financial security in times of unexpected illness becomes a major concern for many. Sudden illness coupled with rising health care costs can prove to be stressful and take a toll on both physical and mental health.
This is where national insurance policies take on the bigger role. It acts as a risk mitigation tool as risk gets transferred to an insurance company. For instance, the National Insurance Mediclaim Policy is one of most sort after health insurance policies. It is being provided by the National Insurance Company Limited and provides the following benefits-:
- pre-hospitalization expenses of the insured person in the event of sickness or accident up to 30 days
- 140 day care methods
- 24-hour hospitalization expenses for treatments.
- Includes the cost of medicines including blood, oxygen, test, appliances among others
Features of National Insurance Mediclaim Policy
A person between the age of 18-59 can avail the benefits of the policy. Besides, parents can choose to include their children in the age-group of 3 months to 18 years under the National Insurance Mediclaim Policy. One of the key feature of the policy is that it can be renewed. Any policyholder up to the age of 80 can choose the national insurance mediclaim renewal. Another benefit of the policy is that, national insurance mediclaim renewal can be done up to 90 years of age if a policyholder continues to hold the policy for five years consecutively before attaining the age of eighty.
Originally the term of National Insurance Mediclaim policy is 1 year and policyholder has to undergo the National insurance mediclaim renewal every year. The minimum sum of Rs 5000 is insured under the policy and the maximum amount is Rs 5 lakhs. National insurance mediclaim renewal is available for both individuals and families. The National Insurance Mediclaim Renewal can be completed online, thus it eliminates the hassles of lengthy documentation procedures.
The process is quite simpler and to do the national insurance mediclaim renewal, one has to go the website and check the renew option. Several fields have to be filled in to process the National Mediclaim policy renewal. For instance, birthdate, policy number and payment mode has to be chosen.
Some of other policies available in the market include term insurance, endowment plans, money back plans, Child plans, Unit Linked insurance plans among others. As there are several health insurance policies available in the market, choosing the way through the right one can prove to be nerve-racking. Nevertheless, some insurers provide policies which are tailored to fit individuals requirements. These policies will fits the budget and will ensure a long term piece of mind. Besides, disease specific policies are also available.
Ways To Choose The Right National Insurance Policy
Choosing The Right Insurer
Before getting on to buying a policy, assessing the market for the key players in the insurance markets would help in eliminating fraudulent companies. These days, several private insurance agents are strolling market with fake promises. Keeping an open eye to details is the key to avoid the vicious circle or else one can lose the money in spite of gaining from the insurance. The best way to judge this is by looking at the companies claim settlement ratio as provided by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.
Projected Income
While choosing a national insurance policy the first and foremost things is to take into account the current and projected income of either the individual to be insured or the family’s income for insuring all dependent persons. The income is vital as this will project the ability of an individual to pay premiums.
Choosing The Amount Of Premium
Talking in terms of money, it is practical to guard our savings. One must look for a plan that will allow to adjust our savings as we age. Further, the age and health of a person can also determine the amount of premium one must pay. Younger and healthy individuals can choose for lower premiums, as compared to person with some medical history or with the probability of getting prone to hereditary diseases such as diabetes.
Benefit Accrued With Respect To Cost
To by the best insurance policy, there is need to look into the benefits that the insurer provides. These benefits are in terms of services or riders mentioned in the policy document. One has to ensure that the policy justifies the benefits covered under it.
Extent Of Cover
Blindly buying a policy will only cost a fortune and will not be of any use. It has to be ensured that the policy provides the maximum cover and include all the dependents of the family. It is important to correctly analyse the financial needs of the dependents and how much financial cover is required. Further, one must enquire the agent about the risk cover and diseases against which protection is ensured. For instance, not all policies guarantee cover for cancer treatments and some does not include pre-hospitalization charges which sometime forms the major portion of your medical expenses.
Hospitals Covered
The most important thing is to check whether your doctor accepts the insurance policy. This is mainly because insurers direct participants to a limited lists of nursing homes and hospitals. So, if you get your health check up done at one particular hospital make sure, it is included in the list. Otherwise, insurers won’t provide the cover and one will have to pay twice the charges.
Receiving Pay-Outs
Lump sum payouts can sometimes lead to financial disasters. Thus, certain insurers provide policies which gives the option of disturbed even monthly payout or in small amounts. For instance, Money back plans unlike ordinary endowment (benefits given at the end of term) plans give survival benefits in periodic payments during the term of the policy.
Option Of Renewal
Once a national insurance policy completes its term, automatic renewal is sometimes not offered by insurers like in the case of national insurance mediclaim renewal. In this case, while buying a policy, insurance renewal has to be ensured to avoid unnecessary hassles.
The Way Forward
The increasing thrust to affordable and quality healthcare is well intended to boost the insurance penetration in India. National Health Mediclaim Policy is also gaining ground. Going forward, by looking at the above ways, one can definitely become prudent in buying a policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment