Why Is Family Health Insurance Important During Covid-19?
For over a year now, countries across the globe have been reeling with the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused massive economic disruptions and put immense strain on healthcare systems everywhere. While most countries have issued strict protocols to contain the spread of the virus, it has still claimed many lives, and many are waiting for timely medical attention worldwide.
Under such challenging circumstances, is adapting to the ‘new normal, taking necessary precautions, and following social distancing norms enough? Probably not. With a minuscule percentage of the Indian population vaccinated so far and the emergence of a new, deadlier, and highly contagious virus strain, the future looks blurred.
So, what additional steps must you take to protect yourself and your family during such testing times? It is straightforward. Choosing a comprehensive family health insurance plan will be a great choice to stay prepared financially to cope with sudden medical emergencies. And in case you already have one, you should look to enhance the health insurance cover.
Read on to understand the advantages of a family health insurance policy during COVID-19.
Benefits of family health insurance plan
- Tackling medical emergencies
Health insurance covers are the best protection against the risk of financial losses from health emergencies requiring immediate medical attention or hospitalization. With healthcare costs rising at an exponential rate, a family health insurance plan reduces your financial burden due to unforeseen medical emergencies.
Presently, with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic gripping India, a medical emergency can knock at your doorstep anytime. Moreover, the massive rise in COVID-19 cases has led to an acute shortage of hospital/ICU beds, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, doctors, medical workers, and coronavirus-specific medicines. Thus, the rising demand for healthcare services will lead to a further rise in your treatment bills.
Hence, a family health insurance cover is imperative during COVID-19. Bajaj Finserv offers a family health insurance plan covering you and your loved ones against any accidents or illnesses. You can get insurance coverage up to Rs 50 lakh to manage your medical expenses. Moreover, you can claim ambulance charges up to Rs 20,000 in a policy year.
In addition, Bajaj Finserv recently launched a COVID-19 insurance policy under Pocket Insurance & Subscriptions as well. Under this policy, upon receiving an authorized positive COVID-19 diagnosis, you can claim hospitalization charges for a minimum hospitalization duration of 24 hours. In addition, this policy reimburses pre and post-hospitalization expenses for up to 30 days. Plus, you can claim ambulance charges up to Rs 2,000 per hospitalization instance. Besides, this policy also covers treatment costs of comorbid conditions along with coronavirus.
- Cashless treatment
One of the prime benefits of any health insurance policy is that you can avail of cashless treatment at network hospitals. So, you longer have to carry ready cash in your pocket to meet hospitalization expenses.
- Compensation for alternative treatments
Many health insurance providers have now started recognizing alternative forms of treatment like Ayurveda, Homeopathy, etc. Many health insurance plans now offer compensation for hospitalization expenses at Ayurvedic and Homeopathic hospitals apart from regular hospitals.
- Tax Benefits
You can reap tax benefits on premiums paid on health insurance policies under Section 80D of ITA. In addition, if you have family health insurance plans, you can also receive tax rebates up to Rs 60,000 in a financial year.
- Free medical checkups
Many medical insurance providers have started including free health checkups in the total health insurance benefit package. For example, under a family health insurance plan, you and your family members can avail of free preventive tests every three years, irrespective of whether you make a claim.
- Value-added benefits
Many health insurance policies offer a plethora of additional benefits along with the ones mentioned above. For example, the Bajaj Finserv family health insurance plan provides long-term benefits in policy discounts of 4% for two years and 8% for three years. Moreover, if you and your family members are aged below 45, no medical test is required to submit a simple proposal form.
In addition, you can easily add family members to the health insurance cover or get your entire family insured with a single lump-sum premium payment. Most family health insurance plans cover a wide range of other healthcare expenses like organ donor charges, bariatric surgery, maternity, newborn care, etc.
Pandemic or no pandemic, health insurance is vital for all. It relieves you of the financial stress induced by rising healthcare costs in unforeseen events like accidents, sudden hospitalizations, medical emergencies, etc. COVID-19 has made it all the more necessary to take medical insurance cover for yourself and your family.
There is a wide range of health insurance policies for individuals and families against critical illnesses, accidents, coronavirus, primary healthcare, etc., at affordable premiums. You can choose the right health insurance plan that suits you best from Bajaj Finserv.
September 16, 2021 @ 11:26 am
Before reading this article, I thought health insurance is worth of money. But after reading your article, I realize that it is very necessary for us and I decide to purchase health insurance. Thanks for sharing this article.