A mediclaim policy allows a person to get reimbursement for expenses incurred on medical treatment. A mediclaim policy generally covers hospital charges, hospital stay, doctor consultation charges, pre and post hospitalization costs, ambulance charges and lab test charges. If you have bought a mediclaim policy, you can submit bills and receive reimbursement for your expenses from the insurance company. Alternatively, you can also opt for cashless facility whereby you don’t need to pay upfront for the medical treatment. The insurance company will pay the bills. However you need to take treatment from one of the network hospitals of the insurance company, to avail cashless facility.
Key Features of Mediclaim policy
- Mediclaim provides a cover against medical bills
- It is available for both individual and family
- The insurance cover can be increased or modified every year at the time of renewal
- Claims can be submitted against the policy multiple times during the year
- It provides tax benefits on yearly premium paid.
Types of Mediclaim policies
- Individual mediclaim policy – This policy is taken for an individual person. Only the designated person can avail the benefits in this policy.
- Family floater mediclaim policy – Mediclaim cover is available for the individual and family members under a single premium payment. It removes the need to have seperate mediclaim policies for each family member.
- Senior citizens mediclaim policy – These policies are designed to meet the needs of people above 60 years of age. These cover age-related disease and illnesses which are not included in general mediclaim policies.
- Critical Illness Mediclaim – These policies offer cover for serious and chronic disease like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, kidney failure etc. Critical disease treatment can burn a hole in your wallet. So this mediclaim policy can act as a financial net in case you or your family member is unfortunately diagnosed with any critical disease.
- Personal Accident Policy – These policies provide medical cover against partial disability, total disability, and accidental death.
Why should you buy a mediclaim policy?
In our increasingly fast pace life, people are finding little time to exercise, have adequate sleep and take care of their health. The general working population is spending a lot of time doing desk jobs, commuting to work which is leading to a sedentary lifestyle. Unhealthy food habits are causing chronic illnesses like diabetes, cholestrol issues, high blood pressure etc. Cases of cardiac arrest are increasing amongst the youth of the nation.
India has one of the highest medical inflation rates in Asia. The healthcare costs are increasing every year and if a person is diagnosed with critical illness like cancer, cardio vascular disease, kidney failure the hospital bills can run into lakhs of rupees. The expense can put immense financial pressure on the family, can wipe out all savings and investments made for the future and can lead to debt for providing medical treatment. Having a mediclaim policy with a sufficient insured amount can financially protect you and your family from all the above situations.
Mediclaim policy is a necessity today. We recommend buying a mediclaim policy as soon as you start earning. All leading insurance companies in the country provide mediclaim policy. The premiums are paid yearly and are on the lower side at a young age. They increase as your age increases. You need to ensure that you take adequate cover which is keeping pace with the current medical costs. Also you need to re-assess the insured amount every few years and increase it to factor in the impacts of inflation or life events like marriage, child birth.
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