A Health Insurance Policy is an agreement between the policyholder and the insurance company. The agreement states that the insurance company will undertake a guaranteed medical compensation to the policyholder if he/she gets hospitalized within that policy period.
The insurance company provides coverage for any sort of medical, surgical, or dental expenses. The payment system solely depends on health insurance coverage. The policyholder can either make payments out of pocket and receives compensation, or the insurance company can make direct payments to the medical service provider on behalf of the insurer.
The medical service provider means the one who will treat you; it can either be a clinic, hospital, doctor, laboratory, healthcare center, or pharmacy.
Types of Health Insurance Policy
Some of the different types of health insurance policies are:
- Family Health Insurance Plan
- Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan
- Surgery and Critical Illness Insurance Plan
- Maternity Health Insurance Plan
- Personal Accident Plan
- Unit Linked Health Plan
- Individual Health Insurance
Why Should I Plan to buy Health Insurance Policy?
The first question that comes to your mind when someone asks you to buy a health insurance policy is – “Why should you buy it at such an early stage of life?” The answer is very clear. You cannot predict your life and a medical emergency can come at any point of time. Moreover, the medical cost has become very expensive, particularly in the private section. So, it is important to buy a health insurance policy for you and your family. But, why but it before I turn 30? This is when you start earning money for your family and have lesser liabilities. Buying a health insurance policy before turning 30 has various reasons. The reasons are mentioned below –
9 Reasons to buy Health Insurance Policy before you turn 30
1. Low Premiums – Depending on your age, the premium expense costs. The younger you are, the lower the premium cost. This is because the health risks are lower when you’re younger and the risk increases as your age increases. So, age plays a pretty vital role in insurance premiums. Premium cost increases once you cross your twenties. The premium cost for a health insurance plan depends on your geographical location and age.
2. To Ensure Your Family is Financially Secure – By purchasing a family health insurance plan, the health coverage will be provided to your family too. A family health insurance plan offers stability to your family and it provides health expenses for the utmost 6 family members.
The facilities under the family health insurance plan include day-care surgeries, ambulance costs, or any non-hospital services like a dental check-up, physiotherapy, optical, hearing test, audio test, and so on. Most importantly this policy will bear the medical expenses of your family members even in your absence.
3. Change in Lifestyle – There has been a drastic change in the human lifestyle over the last three-four decades.
Our daily life has become very complex because of our work schedule. Sedentary Jobs, work schedules, over-consumption of junk foods, and pollution have increased childhood obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and other chronic diseases. Lifestyle diseases like blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke can also harm an individual any time.
4. Unforeseen Disease/Illness – Today you’re living your life comfortably but suddenly you have a heart attack or an accident. An unforeseen illness can come at any time and it has no age barrier. According to the reports, nearly 2 lakhs people lost their lives in a road accident in India last year.
The health insurance policy provides all its competencies when needed. So, to cope with unforeseen illness a health insurance policy is a must for an individual.
5. Rise in Medical Costs – Over the last few years, the medical team has advanced a lot and they have been successful to find a cure for some incurable diseases. But, the medical costs have raised a lot too.
In case of any medical emergency, it would be very difficult for middle-class people to afford the money without any future savings. A health insurance policy can save them from these kinds of situations.
6. Tax Benefits and Savings –According to Section 80D of Income Tax Act, 1961, the Government also offers a deduction for the health insurance policyholder from their income tax. All the premiums paid for the health insurance policy falls under section 80D and you can claim health insurance tax benefit for the same.
7. Pre-Hospitalization and Post Hospitalization Expenses – Depending on the health insurance policy, it can cover the pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization expenses of an individual over a certain period of time. If stated in the agreement, an insurance policy can also bear the OPD and diagnostic tests expenses.
8. Insufficient Coverage through Company Policy – The health coverage provided through your company policy is not enough. You can see the difference graph if you compare your company’s medical expense coverage of a week’s hospitalization for a regular illness. The Employer’s Health Insurance Policy has several cons-
● The Policy is not the cheapest one
● It doesn’t cover the medication of your spouse or any other family member
● The policy gets tricky for several health leaves
● The policy is applicable and legal until you’re there in the company
9. Additional Benefits – A health insurance policy also includes the expenses of including day-care surgeries, ambulance costs, vaccination expenses, and health check-ups.
The Bottom Line
Most of the people hesitate to buy a health insurance policy at an early age because they are not aware of its benefits. A health insurance policy covers for the troublesome expenses of a medical process. As mentioned above there are some specific advantages of subscribing to a Health Insurance Plan at an early age and that is why one should always be covered by Health Insurance.
A rise in an inactive lifestyle may lead to the diagnosis of diseases quite early. Both lifestyle and critical illness necessitate medical attention. Purchasing health coverage early leads to the completion of the waiting period for pre-existing conditions before they are needed.