Some Myths about Health Insurance

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Before buying a health insurance policy, you must be aware of how it works. Mentioned below are some popular myths that most people believe about health insurance:

I Am Healthy, and I Don’t Need Medical Insurance
Despite being healthy and taking good care of your health, there are numerous unforeseen circumstances, like seasonal illnesses, dengue, malaria, or an accident, that can hit anyone anytime. Nowadays, hospitalization expenses are not easy to pay off. Even 2 days of hospitalization in a tier 1 city would cost you somewhere between ₹60,000 to ₹1 lakh and even more (depending on the type of illness and hospital). With medical insurance, you can get financial assistance to pay for expensive hospitalization costs.
My Health Insurance Will Cover All My Medical Expenses
As per the IRDAI regulations, all health insurance plans come with a set of exclusions/limitations. It is advised to check all the policy details and the coverage offered by your insurer. This is because your insurer will only compensate for the expenses that are covered in the policy and up to the sum insured limit.
I Don’t Need to Declare My Pre-existing Diseases
It is essential to declare all your pre-existing diseases clearly in the proposal form while buying a health insurance policy. Inadequate information or non-disclosure of pre-existing diseases can lead to rejection of the claim and can lead to policy cancellation.
Smokers Are Not Eligible to Buy a Health Insurance Plan
Most smokers believe that they cannot get a health policy. But there are health insurance companies that offer medical insurance coverage to them as well. Considering the risks, alcohol consumers and smokers would need to undergo a stringent pre-medical examination and pay a higher premium to get health insurance coverage.
Medical Insurance Will Only Cover Hospitalization Expenses
Though most health insurance plans cover medical expenses for hospitalization of more than 24 hours, there are plans that do not have a cap on the duration of hospitalization. All insurers these days cover day care procedures, where hospitalization of at least 24 hours is not required. It includes cataract surgery, varicose veins surgery and similar medical procedures. Moreover, several health plans now cover OPD treatments that do not require hospitalization at all.
I Am Covered Under a Group or Corporate Health Insurance Plan
Most people rely on the health insurance plan provided by their employer. It is important to know that a group health insurance policy comes with a set of limitations. It will not offer coverage to all your family members in most cases, the sum insured will not be sufficient, or it will not cover critical illnesses. The coverage will cease to exist as soon as you quit your job. Getting health insurance coverage after retirement or quitting your job can be a difficult and expensive affair.

How to Calculate Health Insurance Premiums?

In order to keep the policy in force, regular payment of a fixed premium amount is essential. Did you ever think about how this premium is calculated? There are certain factors that affect health insurance premiums, such as your age, the medical background of your family, sum insured, cumulative bonus, your personal medical history and so on.

Naturally, you might want to calculate your premium to figure out how much you would have to pay for a policy. Well! You can do that through a health insurance premium calculator. A premium calculator is an online tool that calculates the premium to be paid as per the information you provide, such as the preferred sum insured, the age of the insured, etc. At Policybazaar.com, you can calculate your health insurance premium online easily and free of cost.