They say an apple a day keeps
the doctor away! But I am not going to give you reasons to include the fruit in your diet,
rather share an interesting fact. In the year 1960, Indias life expectancy was 42 years
and by 2015 it had jumped to 69.6 Years. Why did this happen? We can thank better immunization,
nutrition and health care.In contrast, Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world,
at about 83.12 In 2012. The government takes the health of its citizens very seriously,
it pays 70% of the costs and the rest is borne by the citizens.
Isnt that amazing? The fact
that all citizens are insured to some extent by the government.In India, things are different.
However, getting a health insurance can cover our health costs, which are pretty steep by
the way.In the book To Cancer With Love-My Journey of Joy, Neelam Kumar writes her struggle
with cancer, her treatment costs were more than Rs. 9,00,000 And she could not afford
it. However, she was lucky that her employer Steel Authority Of India had taken an employee
health insurance which included critical illness all her bills were payed for by the insurance
company.We all might not be as lucky as Neelam has been in her fight for cancer, but we can
fight health costs by buying health insurance.Health insurance is a simple concept, you pay a premium
to an insurance company and if you are ever hospitalized, then all the costs are taken
care of by the insurer.Currently, the cost of hospitalization is Rs. 40,000 Rs.
3,00,000.
Health insurance is a simple concept, you pay a premium to an insurance company and
if you are ever hospitalized then all the costs are taken care of.Lets talk about an
insurance called Easy Health. Just like life insurance, you must begin with comparing multiple
insurance schemes to find one that suits you. So this insurance policy, costs Rs. 3,663
Per year The sum insured is Rs 3,00,000 lets see what that sum covers: Hospitalization
for more than 24hrs Called in patient hospitalization, Pre and post hospitalization expenses, Emergency
ambulance (upto Rs 2,000), Comprehensive health checkup, Critical illness is optional.A health
insurance helps in protecting your wealth in case of Hospitalization.
It is a small
price to pay to protect your wealth.Types of Health InsuranceIndividual Mediclaim:This
is by far the simplest health insurance. You pay a premium, get a sum insured which covers
hospitalization expenses. For example, a health insurance costing Rs 5,836 assures you of
Rs 3,00,000 per year in hospital expenses.Family Floater Policy:This is great for India, since
a lot of us live in large families. Here All the members of the family are insured for
a fixed amount that they share.
Lets the sum insured is for Rs 5 Lakhs. If one member gets
ill hospital expenses amount to Rs 1 lakh then we have Rs 4 lakhs remaining in the insurance
kitty. Think of it like a big basket of insurance you entire family can share.Remember that
insurance policies mainly cover in-patient hospitalization (overnight stay) and not out-patient
expenses or dental expenses.Age Premium MilestonesWhen should you buy health Insurance?
I want to share an important point here called age premium milestones. Insurance companies
work with a lot of data, a lot of probability and their models have found out that at a
certain age people are more vulnerable to illnesses.
Age 46: At this age, the health premium skyrocket Age 61: At this age, the premium goes up even
fasterA 36-44 male with a critical illness plan pays Rs.
5,787
At age 45 male with a critical illness plan pays Rs 5,787
At 46-49 it jumps to 8906 At 51-54 it jumps to 11,769
You see the steep increase from 5,787 8,906, its a 53% increase and just 1 year of difference.
If you are at this crossroad in the next few years, get the insurance now.
Same for age 60 premiums are at 15,825 At age 61 it jumps to 22,329That is the age
premium milestone. It makes sense to buy before you reach these age milestones. But, there
is one more reason for buying health insurance early on.Waiting period:This is a time period
when the actual cover will be in effect. This could be several years or months.Existing
Ailments:If you have diabetes the policy will be covered only after 1 year and not before
that.Specified Ailments:Many major ailments are not covered, a few years wait is always
required.Kal kisne dekha hai, its best to get the health insurance as soon as possible.Employee
Health CoverIf you have an employee health cover, please find out the details to see
what it covers.
Businesses are efficient machines, they will cut on costs to bring down premiums.
If the insurance is inadequate consider buying one. Financial planners will always recommend
to buy your own health insurance, at your own terms.Critical Illness PlansSo far we
have understood health insurance pretty well. Remember the first example of Neelam Kumars
struggle with Cancer? That ailment is not covered in insurance, however a critical illness
plan does cover such a sever disease. Critical illness plans, are an insurance product whereby
the policy holder is covered in case he is diagnosed with a serious disease on a predetermined
list.A Critical illness plan covers serious diseases and conditions like:
Cancer of Specified Severity First heart attack of specified severity
Open chest CABG.
Open heart replacement or repair of heart
valves Coma of specified severity
Kidney failure requiring regular dialysisLets take the example of Cancer, Herceptin (a breast
cancer drug) may cost anywhere between Rs 75,000/vial and Rs 1 lakh/vial. A patient
needs at least 16 vials. Similarly, an angioplasty can cost anywhere between Rs 1 and Rs 3.5
Lakh.Do you need a critical Illness plan? Answer the following questions:
1) Does your family have history of major illnesses?
2) Are you the major earning member of your family?
3) If you are critically ill for 3-5 months and you earning capacity is hampered, what
would be the expenses you need to meet for that period?
4) Are you above the age of 35?If you answered Yes for questions 1, 2 and 4 then you should
consider getting a critical illness plan. Nothing fancy, buy a simple plan.
It is popularly
added as a rider in your insurance.3 Checks On Your Health Insurance Policy1) Get a basic
policy: Keep away from the frills and benefits you want to cover the main costs which are
consultation, medicines and major surgeries.2) Life Long Renewals: The inability to renew
beyond a certain age is a problem. Find insurance policies that offer life long renewals, the
costs will be high but it is worth it especially if you are above the age of 45 right now.3)
Caps: If you buy an insurance for Rs 3,00,000, that does not mean that is your limit. There
will be sub limits to expenses such as room rents, treatments and medicine. You have to
take out the time to read the wordings of the document to understand these sub limits.Tax
BenefitsAh, this is the best part health insurance too has tax benefits.
The tax benefit is upto
Rs 25,000 in the 2015 budget. This means the premium you pay will be deducted from your
income and you will pay lesser tax. Please consult your accountant on how this will affect
your tax deduction.Lastly I wouldd like to leave you with these three websites:Log on
and start comparing insurance schemes. You should also visit the individual insurance
websites to see if you get a better deal.
Happy health to you and your family.
In the next lesson we will explore how to select and invest our savings in Mutual Funds.
Read less.
If you are employed, affordable insurance health cover is mostly provided by way of a employers. But, as a large number of companies are trying to decrease the amount spent on insurance, there are limitations and gaps on the insurance cover employers offer. In order to meet the shortfall, there are many individuals who choose to choose for private health insurance. Most of the affordable group insurance plans which are proposed by companies do not cover the employees' families. Health Insurance tucson arizona
But, as the competition between the companies increase, the rates that they provide also varies. Most companies are trying to provide the cheapest plans and if that you are watchful and shop around sensibly, it is possible to find a plan that is cheap and also suited to your requirements.
