Reclaim Your Health

Sidhharth Barve (name changed on request), a middle-class person working in a private company in Mumbai, suffered a mild stroke while at his home at Nalla Sopara in Thane district. After subsequent medical check-ups, it was diagonised that there were a few  blockages in his coronary arteries which needed to be removed to avert the danger of a second severe and possibly fatal heart attack. Siddharth was informed that if needed, a bypass surgery may also be performed. Sidhharth got some of the blockages removed as well as underwent bypass surgery. The cost: Rs 3.5 lakh. He had savings of about Rs 2 lakh and somehow managed to raise the balance amount of Rs 1.50 lakh,, but the cost of his treatment almost broke him financially.

Getting Cover

There are thousands of others like Sidhharth who face medical emergencies and spend their life’s savings on medical treatment. But there is a way out and one can insure oneself from such a crippling financial blow by taking medical insurance policies. These are called the ‘mediclaim’ policies and are offered by insurance companies. Mediclaim policies will help you cover the medical expenses in case you have to undergo medical treatment or are hospitalized for some reason. Mediclaim takes care of medical expenses following hospitalization of the insured in case of sudden illness, an accident or any surgery required, for a disease that may arise during the policy period. An additional benefit of medical insurance plans is that the insured also becomes eligible for comprehensive preventive medical check-ups. A mediclaim policy basically provides a health cover of a certain amount of money and hence in case of any medical expenses incurred by the insured, the insurance company bears expenses upto a certain predefined limit. The quantum of money that the company reimburses to the person who has the mediclaim policy depends on the type of health cover. Hordes of companies offer mediclaim policies prominent among them being Tata AIG, Bajaj Allianz, ICICI Lombard, Reliance Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, HDFC Standard Life, Religare Aegon, and many more (see box: Health Insurance Policies).

It is crucial to go through and understand the terms and conditions of mediclaim policies. Mediclaim policies offer several advantages. From helping you tide an emotional and financial crisis and also taking care of any medical expenses that may be incurred due to injury, surgery or any other conditions to reimbursement of expenses incurred for hospitalization for certain injuries, illnesses, and/or diseases. It covers the expenses incurred during hospitalization as well as pre and post-hospitalization expenses.