Get The Most Out of Your Health Insurance Policy with These 5 Tips

Date : 28/06/2023
Read: 3 mins

Out-of-pocket medical expenses take a toll on household finances. Here are a few tips to avoid it by optimising health insurance.

Out-of-pocket healthcare expenses are very high in India
Low insurance penetration and inadequate medical insurance coverage tend to increase medical expenses
With some simple steps and measures, out-of-pocket medical expenses can be reduced
National Insurance Awareness Day can be earmarked as a day for increasing awareness around all insurance products

By the end of the financial year 2022, over 52 crore Indians were noted to have health insurance. That is very low penetration in a country of 140 crores. It is one of the several reasons why Indians spend a lot of money paying medical bills.

Thanks to medical inflation, healthcare expenses are getting dearer. Your health insurance coverage may become inadequate in a year or two, courtesy of the rising medical costs. Most health insurance policies exclude many non-hospitalisation expenses. So, if you pay a hefty bill in the outpatient department (OPD), chances are that you will be paying it out of pocket.

To sum up, there may be several reasons why you could be bleeding money in healthcare expenses. What is important, therefore, is to identify the opportunities and steps that can reduce your out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Also Read: Room Rent Limits: The Surprising Factor That Can Leave You High and Dry in Health Insurance

Getting More Out of Health Insurance

Make sure you plan, organise and reconsider your health insurance coverage with these steps and tips –

Get adequate health insurance – Take a look at the prevailing medical costs and see if your existing policy has adequate coverage. Add a top-up plan to your existing base plan so that your medical coverage increases. Alternatively, you can go for a more substantial sum assured by changing or porting your plan.
Compare diagnostic costs – Diagnostic tests can vary widely from one test centre to another. The ones in private hospitals are likely to be more expensive than standalone diagnostic centres, while tests done in government facilities will be cheaper.
Select room category wisely – A typical hospitalisation involves the use of non-payable items like bandages and sanitisers. Besides, there are doctor’s fees, ICU charges, dietician fees, etc. All of these are linked to your room category. You will find that these expenses are lower in a twin-sharing room, compared to a single room.
Scope of coverage – While your health insurance policy will cover hospitalisation, expenses like daycare and OPD may be excluded. You can get these types of expenses included in your policy by opting for OPD, daycare, daily cash allowance, consumables coverage, etc.
Co-pay and deductibles – You may go for a policy with a low premium and high co-pay and/or deductibles. But this will increase your medical expenses. So, opt for plans that have no or low co-payment and a deductible clause, so that the insurance company covers most or all of the medical expenses.