Month: August 2016

Motherhood is a beautiful experience in every woman’s life. It makes a woman feel complete. Juggling between career and life, motherhood often gets delayed. Thus complications during childbirth have also become quite prevalent. This is because of the surrounding stress, lifestyle and delayed pregnancy.

Motherhood comes with a lot of responsibility as well as expenses. In fact these days, couples plan their families based on their financial conditions rather than emotionally. Expenses do not end after the child is born. The total expenses could cost you a fortune if you are not prepared. Thus, raising a child needs good financial backup. In this case, a health insurance with maternity coverage can solve the problem.

What is maternity insurance?

Health insurance covers the cost of insured individual’s medical expenses. But, maternity coverage is a very important health benefit for women. It pays for all expenses related to normal pregnancy, labour and delivery. Some of this maternity plans support new-born baby care and other related expenses too. It, however, does not cover artificial insemination and other related costs.

Read more about why you should buy maternity insurance plan

Does it make sense to buy a Health Plan with Maternity Benefits?

Childbirth in a good hospital has become quite expensive today. A normal delivery costs around Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000, without much complication. However, a caesarean delivery is way more expensive. It can range anything between Rs 35,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

Thus, it is not always possible to bear a huge amount during delivery. And you still wish to get the best services for your family and child. Having maternity coverage will reduce your financial stress during pregnancy. Alongside you would not have to compromise on your childcare as well.

Some corporates also provide group health plans with maternity coverage for employees and their spouses. If your company offers one, you are saved. Else, buying an individual health plan makes sense

Here are few reasons why an individual health plan is a better option over a group health cover:

• In case, you change your job. The coverage would be lost along with the maternity coverage.
• Coverage under group health policy might be limited in terms of value.
• Group plan might not include pre and postnatal expenses related to childbirth. An individual plan covers it all.

Key things to consider while buying a Maternity Insurance

A health plan with maternity benefit includes almost all expenses related to pregnancy.

• Pre and post hospitalization.
  Pre hospitalization consists of check-ups before hospitalization to medicines. Post hospitalization would take care of childcare after delivery. The 30-60 days before hospitalization and 60-90 days after discharge is considered under this.
• Delivery charges and in patient hospitalization.
  The hospitalization charges for delivery are covered in this insurance. Some policies have certain sub-limits pertaining to delivery. Sub limits for normal deliveries are Rs 15,000- Rs 25,000. And that for caesareans are Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000.
• Pre and postnatal expenses.
  This covers for childcare expenses which included doctor’s consultation as well as medicines. Even check-up and incubation costs are also covered.
• Vaccination cover.
  Some health plan cover the Government mandatory vaccination expenses of the new born also. Usually it is provides for the first year vaccinations only but some plans extend it as well to 12 years.
• New Born Coverage.

Some health plans provide new-born health cover including all special care necessary and expenses related to defects, if any from the time the child is born.

When is the best time to buy maternity coverage?

Many think about when is the right time to opt for maternity coverage and the answer is very predictable- as early as possible. Though delaying is a common thing, there are various reasons why one should not delay to opt for maternity coverage.

Here are the top 3 reasons for opting for Maternity Coverage ASAP.

Applying for a maternity coverage plan at the last minute can be a big mistake. Here are the glitches of availing maternity coverage at the last minute.

1. Waiting period and pre-existing clause.This is a specified period of time after which you can get cover for maternity expenses. Most insurance companies do not provide for maternity coverage in the initial years. The first 2-6 years are usually excluded from this coverage. This is called the waiting period for maternity. Corporate policies also sometimes have a waiting period of 9 months to 2 years.

In addition, you cannot avail a new maternity coverage plan if you are already pregnant. In such case, pregnancy would be considered as a pre-existing condition and hence no maternity coverage shall be provided.

Hence, it has to be availed at least 2 years before you are planning to conceive a child.

2. Rise in premiums with age and time.Premium of this coverage would increase with your advancing age. So if you delay to avail this insurance, you are likely to pay higher premiums to fulfil your needs.Also, with the marriage age being pushed further today, more women above 35 and even 40 are delaying motherhood. In addition, even expenses related to motherhood are increasing day by day. Therefore, if you delay, you might not be able to opt for a cheaper maternity plan as the waiting period for the same is usually longer. Thus, you would end up opting for a plan with a higher premium to avail the timely benefit.
3. Ease in availing the Policy. If you have time, it is always better in terms of availing any kind of insurance. If the maternity coverage is not taken early in life, maternity benefit might not be available at a higher age due to the complications involved with ageing! You might also have to avail the same in a hurry and thus not able to do complete research. So the earlier you buy, the better it is!

Popular Plans with Maternity Coverage

There are some popular plans, which offer good features on maternity coverage. They are

• Apollo Munich Easy Health Premium Plan
• Religare Joy Plan
• HDFC Health Suraksha Gold Plan
• Star Wedding Gift Plan and
• Max Bupa Heartbeat Plan

Here is a comparative analysis between Apollo Easy Health plan and Religare Joy Plan.

Expert advice

If you wish to buy a Maternity Insurance Plan, now is the right time. Alternatively, if you got married recently and planning to have a child in next few years, having a maternity coverage can be helpful. However, if you are planning a baby immediately, then you need to consider the premiums before buying, since plans with lower waiting periods are relatively quite expensive.

Also, having a maternity coverage can be helpful if you plan your next child a few years later. However, if you are not planning any more children, then this additional benefit is not required. Or, if your group insurance provides enough coverage for the entire benefit that you may need, then this additional maternity benefit may not be required.

Thus, the best solution is to opt for a comprehensive health insurance plan like Apollo Munich Easy Health or Max Bupa Heartbeat, which has all other benefits like lifelong renewability and has Maternity Coverage too at a competitive rate. You can continue this health insurance plan for the rest of your life and can include your family as well. However, a purely maternity driven plan like Religare Joy is helpful only for immediate Maternity benefit and hence, can be discontinued afterwards, since the premium is very high as compared to the rest of the industry.

So don’t waste your time as time is money. Old saying but true as it can help you save quite a lot. Get the best insurance plans in India online at Turtlemint.

Read also An anatomy of an health insurance plan

Read more about Dejargonizing health insurance terms

Monsoon brings a relief from scorching heat and an array of diseases. Dengue is one of them. It is a mosquito-borne painful fever caused by dengue viruses and the claim of this disease is increasing every year. Data from health insurer Max Bupa shows that reimbursement of dengue claim went up by 200% in 2015 compared to the previous year and this year the number could increase and that is why it is always better to be safe than sorry. Any illness needs extensive care and treatment but when it comes to dengue, needless to say, all the tests, treatment cost and hospitalization burn a big hole in your pocket. Health insurance comes handy in such situations. Now-a-days health insurance companies are coming up with specialized plans that cover for specific ailments. But how helpful or important specialized health insurance plans could be? If this question arising in your mind too, this is the right article for you. Read on to know more about dengue insurance cover.

What is dengue insurance cover plan?

Dengue insurance comes under the section of specialized health insurance plan that covers all dengue-related medical expenses. Apollo Munich has developed such specialized health plan known as DENGUE CARE PLAN and DHFL Pramerica has developed DENGUE SHIELD designed to treat solely dengue patient.

What does the apollo munich’s dengue care plan cover?

Here are the coverage features of Apollo Munich’s Dengue Care Plan:

1. Inpatient treatment: the patient has to stay in hospital for more than 24 hours if treatment arising from dengue fever and hospitalisation cost cover up to sum assured.
2. Room rent: the plan covers the rent of single private A/C room.
3. Pre and post-hospitalisation: the plan covers any pre and post hospitalisation expenses for periods ranging 15 days immediately before hospitalisation and 15 days immediately after discharging from hospital.
4. Shared accommodation benefits: the plan covers shared accommodation expenses.
5. Outpatient treatment: these following benefits are available and covered under this section and cover expenses up to Rs 10,000

• Outpatient consultation by specialized doctor.
• Diagnostic tests for dengue fever.
• Expenses of medicine prescribed for dengue fever.
• Home nursing facility.

On other hand, DHFL provides 100% of the sum insured if you are diagnosed of dengue fever under the following conditions:

1. If your platelet levels decrease rapidly below the minimal level.
2. Minimum 48 hours inpatient care and hospitalization in a hospital.
3. If your blood tests report shows positive for dengue.

When is the right time to buy this plan?

The answer is as early as possible. This policy covers persons from 91 days baby to 65 years old. For child the minimum entry age is 91 days and the maximum is 25 years. For adult, the minimum entry age is 18 years and maximum is 65 years.

 Is the coverage beneficial?

A dengue patient entails a hospital stay of five to six days depending on the condition of the patient. In this scenario if you own such insurance plan, it makes life easier. The tests, the admission as well as the transfusion, if required, involve quite a lot of expenses. An article in Hindu states that Dengue treatment costs a bomb as corporate hospitals charge anything between Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for a platelet separation, in case it is needed. Some people have ended up spending Rs 1.75 lakhs to Rs 2 lakhs for a dengue treatment of their children. With the rising cases of reported dengue, the need to look into this becomes very important.

But how beneficial these insurance plans are? To give you a clear idea on benefits of dengue insurance cover go through these pros and cons of such plan.

The pros:

• The Apollo Munich Dengue Care Plan does not require you to undergo any medical health test. In the proposal form, just a self-declaration is more than enough to buy this plan
• This plan allows upto Rs 10,000 for outpatient treatment, which is enough to avail treatment at your own house.
• The dengue cover’s premium rate does not depend on age. It depends only on the amount of coverage one wants from this plan. There are two coverage options available in Dengue Care Plan- one is of Rs 50000 and premium for this is Rs 508 inclusive of taxes and the other option is of Rs 1 lakh with premium Rs 662 annually.
• While DHFL Pramerica Dengue Shield plan offers a sum insured of Rs 25,000; Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000. Here, you can pay the premium either annually or a single installment for a 5 year term.

As seen here, the cost for the benefits provided is very low. You pay only Rs 55 per month for Rs 1 lakh of coverage irrespective of your age from Apollo Munich’s Dengue plan.The cons:

• This plan only covers expenses for the treatment of Dengue. If you are suffering from any other ailment, this plan will not allow any coverage.
• This is an annual policy, thus you have to give the premium annually.

If you compare between your regular health insurance and specialized dengue insurance, you will see that besides the benefit of treatment at home, there are no special benefits that your regular health insurance does not provide.

However if do not have a regular health insurance and if you see dengue symptoms prevalent in your area, you should definitely consider at least buying this specialized dengue plan. The specialized dengue plan comes at a very low premium and since a disease like dengue is very uncertain, it makes a lot of sense to opt for it without much thought especially if you do not have any regular health plans.

You can also buy a Dengue plan alongside your regular health plan, since this plan comes without much pinch in the pocket. Moreover, if you have a dengue claim, you need not disturb the No Claim Bonus of your regular health plan. So, with the rising risk of Dengue in this country, this dengue special health plan can be seriously considered.

For any other queries with health insurance, get in touch with Turtlemint representatives.

Read more about Separate health insurance plans for parents of floater?

Read also An anatomy of an health insurance plan

In recent years, modern advances in science and technology have changed the face of the Indian healthcare industry. Until a few years ago, carrying out medical procedures like eye surgery and kidney stone removal used to take some days. Today, complex treatments like these have become a lot faster and take just a few hours to complete.

However, in spite of the many scientific advances, healthcare costs have only increased. Very few people can afford treatment in case of a health emergency. For others, it’s either a huge dent in their savings or reliance on financial help from outside.

Surprisingly, most over-the-counter treatments cost almost twice as much as the cost for hospitalization! This is why most of the major health insurance providers have begun giving day-care health coverage to their customers. Day-care health insurance coverage offers the necessary financial relief by paying for costs related to medical treatments that need only short-term hospitalization and can be taken care of in less than 24 hours.

Example

Mr. Arvind holds a health insurance plan, which covers day-care health procedures. When he is diagnosed with kidney stones, his doctor advises lithotripsy (kidney stone removal surgery) as the required treatment. Incidentally, a decade ago, Mr. Arvind’s father too had suffered from kidney stones and had to be hospitalized a few days for the kidney stone removal procedure. Remembering this, Mr. Arvind worries that his surgery will not be admissible under day-care health coverage. He goes on to air his concern to the doctor. He is surprised to find, however, that due to technical advances, the surgery now lasts only a few hours and because of this, the hospital will discharge him the same day of the surgery. Therefore, Mr. Arvind, unlike his father, can make a hassle-free claim for the kidney stone removal surgery, as it is listed under day-care health procedures!

Claim process

The claim filing process for a day-care health procedure is similar to that of the claim filing process for a regular hospitalization.

You must notify the insurance company beforehand in the case of a planned procedure and within 24 hours in the case of an emergency procedure. Make sure you maintain all your medical records for the reimbursement to go smoothly.

Procedures covered

Treatments that are usually admissible as a Day-Care Health procedure include:

• Appendectomy
• Angiography
• Angioplasty
• Fracture/dislocation excluding hairline fracture
• Surgery of ligament tear
• Chemotherapy
• Colonoscopy
• Dental Surgery
• Eye Surgery
• Ear Surgery
• Radiotherapy
• Lithotripsy (kidney stone removal)
• Incision and Drainage of abscess
• Hydrocele
• Hemodialysis
• Hysterectomy
• Hernia
• Tonsillectomy
• Piles / Fistula
• Prostate
• Sinusitis
• Liver aspiration
• Dialysis
• Sclerotherapy

Checklist

There are a few things you should consider while choosing a day-care health insurance coverage.

• Cost:

Most of health insurance plans in India today cover day-care procedures. However, the costs vary. So, don’t forget to compare the benefits before you buy a plan to ensure you get your money’s worth.

• Broad categories:

Though it may seem like a good idea, choosing a health insurance plan that lists a large number of procedures may not necessarily be in your best interests. Instead of going for the impressive quantity of specific procedures covered, go for quality; you’d be better off choosing a coverage that mentions broader categories of day-care health procedures.

• Out Patient Department (OPD) clause:

To save spending from your pocket on minor procedures (that last only a couple of hours and don’t require hospitalization even for a day), check if the plan you are considering offers the OPD clause. Note that most dental treatments fall under the Out-Patient-Department category, but not all health insurance plans cover OPD diagnosis and treatment.

Read more about day care treatment vs outpatient expenses

• Treatment at home:

This option covers the cost of treatment at home, when a patient cannot be moved to a healthcare center or hospital. This benefit can literally be a lifesaver but very few health insurance plans offer it.

• Cashless treatment option:

Cashless medical transaction is generally available at hospitals or healthcare centers that have partnered with the insurance company. In case of planned procedures, you can easily avail this option by letting your insurance company know about it well in time.

Thus, by going for a health insurance plan that covers day-care procedures, you can also protect your finances while you protect your health.Visit our site to know more about health insurance plans.

Read more about  What is insurance and how does it works?

Read more about  An anatomy of an health insurance plan

Read more about Dejargonizing health insurance terms

Health insurance riders are added benefits that you can purchase along with the base health insurance plan. It is like a topping on a pizza. You need to pay extra amount for an additional cheese on top! Thus riders are like add-ons which come with extra coverage and features but are charged over and above the regular premium.

The riders make your policy more flexible and you can use the benefits to your advantage. If you opt for riders, you become entitled to get additional sums assured, which you can use in any way you wish at the time of an emergency.

The popular health insurance riders include the critical illness rider, the hospital cash rider and the room rent waiver rider. Each rider has its own set of benefits and so you must look at the features very carefully before selecting a rider.

Benefits of health insurance riders

Like mentioned above, health insurance riders help you in customising your policy. Let us understand this with an example. Anil bought a regular health insurance plan and a critical illness rider as he had a family history of heart ailments. He himself was a patient of hypertension. Sadly, at the age of 46, Anil suffered a cardiac arrest and needed urgent hospitalisation.

Thankfully for him, the extra sum assured from the critical illness rider took care of his hospital bills and he went home healthy and happy. The sum assured from the base plan would not have sufficiently covered Anil’s health costs and so the rider proved to be very beneficial.

So, for Anil’s family is the cost of the Critical Illness Rider an additional cost? Of course not! Because they have got the benefit for the same by paying a very small amount for the rider. However, if Anil had to opt for a stand alone Critical Illness Plan all on his own, his premium would be much more than the additional premium he opted for the rider for the same coverage.

Who needs a health insurance rider?

Everyone needs coverage. So, technically speaking, everyone can benefit from these riders just by paying a small amount of extra premium. However, to maximise your health insurance plan, you first have to understand the features of the riders available to you. This is important because you need a rider that would serve you.

For example, a maternity expenses rider would be of no use to a 50 year old person and a critical illness rider wouldn’t be crucial for a healthy 25-year old. So you have to assess your own needs and then look at the riders from that angle to understand if you need to opt for the riders.

Are the riders worth buying?

This is a very valid question as many people wonder if taking a rider would cost them a huge sum of money. A rider comes at an added cost and that in turn pushes up the cost of your health insurance premiums. As a result, you have to be very careful and see if you can afford the rider.

If the plan, along with the rider, becomes too expensive then you may end up defaulting on your premiums. This will lead to closure of your policy and you will not only lose the added benefit, but the entire health cover! So opt for the health insurance riders only if you feel you can afford to have them.

However, riders come with additional benefits at a nominal cost. Thus, on the flipside it may be worth it.

Now the worry is, how do you know which rider is worth and which is not?

The extra premium may not really pinch if the benefit of the rider is well identified. Some of the most common riders of a health insurance plan are:

• Maternity Coverage and New Born Coverage for a young couple, even though it may sound like a burden to an older couple
• Critical illness Coverage for a family who has closely seen the emotional and financial stress of a critical illness patient or has heard about it
• Personal Accident Coverage for a person who does a lot of travelling especially road travel for work or pleasure
• Room rent waiver for a family who wishes to opt for a higher room rent and doesn’t want a limit on the coverage
• Alternate Therapies coverage if you believe alternate treatment to the regular antibiotics

Conclusion

Speak to your financial confidante or look through our website for more information on the specific riders available from the various insurance providers and then make your choice. If you feel that your base health plan is sufficient and you do not need any extra coverage, then you would do well without the riders. If however you feel the base cover isn’t going to support you during an emergency and you find a suitable rider, then definitely opt for it. All you need to do it to click on I’m interested tab and then choose Apply Online to buy the policy online at the click of a button.

Just remember, the best time to opt for a coverage is when you don’t need it because you never know whether you will be given the coverage when you really need it! Prevention is surely better than cure.

Read more about Dejargonizing health insurance terms

Read more about How to choose health insurance plans