Buying Health Insurance to Shield You from Lifestyle Diseases
Daily tasks have become easier and quicker thanks to modern technology, but on the flip side, it has also increased our susceptibility to certain lifestyle diseases.
Diseases that used to primarily afflict people in their middle to late years, such as cardiovascular defects, diabetes, and respiratory issues, are now common even among young people. Our sedentary lives, elevated stress levels, poor eating habits, and other factors are responsible for this, which is dooming the future of today's youth.
Health insurance is vitally important in this situation. Health insurance offers financial assistance in the event of a medical emergency, making it more crucial than ever to have a health plan because lifestyle diseases are on the rise. Two main factors make having a decent medical insurance plan necessary:
- Diseases are becoming more prevalent.
- The rising cost of managing these illnesses.
So, What are Lifestyle Diseases?
Lifestyle diseases are conditions that are primarily caused by people's daily routines. They are termed non-communicable diseases. Lifestyle diseases include obesity, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, and conditions linked to alcohol, tobacco, and drug addiction.
The percentage of underweight adults has dramatically decreased, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's National Family Health Survey 2019–20. The data shows concerning signals of an increase in diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and other lifestyle-related illnesses in the cases of non-communicable diseases (lifestyle-related diseases).
An illustration of how comorbidities can significantly affect mortality and treatment outcomes is COVID-19. Therefore, the best action is to alter one's lifestyle and purchase a health insurance plan with enough coverage for lifestyle diseases.
What's the Solution on This?
The leading cause of lifestyle disorders is the daily lifestyle choices you make. The majority of these chronic medical conditions can be avoided. To enhance health, maintain a balanced diet, engage in physical activity twice or three times per week, get enough sleep, and shield your family with a decent health insurance plan. Health insurance plans are essential since they offer financial protection in a medical emergency.
The critical factors that must be considered when you plan to get health insurance coverage are listed below to assist you.
Considerations Before Purchasing a Health Insurance Policy
Individual vs Family Insurance - You might think about purchasing family floater health insurance plan, which covers everyone in the family under one policy. Children who are more than 25 years old, however, may be insured under the individual health insurance plan.
Sum Insured - The sum insured is the most amount your health insurance company will ever give you if you file a claim for hospitalisation. However, due to escalating medical care costs, you must choose a larger sum insured for complete coverage.
Choose a Larger No Claim Bonus (NCB) - If you do not file any claims throughout the policy term, you will receive an increased sum insured for the claim-free year. The greatest NCB you can often receive is 50%, depending on the type of plan you select. In a perfect world, a policy with up to 50% NCB would be a great option.
No Copayment - Selecting the copayment option commits you to pay a portion of the hospital bill when you file health insurance claims, so choose zero copayments instead. This lowers the insurance provider's associated risk, resulting in a lower premium. But choose a plan without a copay option if you want the insurer to pay the maximum claim amount.
A Waiting Period - Health insurance policies cover not all illnesses as of the policy's start date. Before using the coverage, you must wait for a set period. Depending on your insurance, lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart conditions, asthma, etc., are usually covered after 2 to 3 years.
Choosing Critical Illness is a Wise Move- To further increase the basic plan's coverage, you can choose to add critical illness health insurance coverage. These are specialised health insurance plans with add-on protection for serious illnesses like cancer, heart attack, and kidney failure.
Go for Wellness Benefits - By leading a fit and healthy lifestyle, one can prevent challenging medical diseases. Plans with wellness features encourage you to maintain a healthy lifestyle. By the terms and conditions of the health plan, these reward points may be accumulated and used in the future for renewal premiums, medical examinations, or subscriptions to spa, gym, and yoga facilities.
Check If the Insurer has a Vast Network of Hospitals- Make sure you get a health insurance plan that provides access to a broad range of hospitals while picking the appropriate insurer and health insurance plan. You can avoid out-of-pocket costs by receiving hospital care at these network hospitals without paying cash. If you decide against cashless treatment, you must pay out of pocket and request reimbursement. It is best to purchase a health insurance plan with a max number of network hospitals near your residence because this process is time-consuming and difficult.
Other Benefits - You require comprehensive benefits in addition to the larger sum insured and the other mentioned elements. Select policies that cover extra benefits including coverage for outpatient department (OPD) costs and consumables (PPE kits, gloves, masks, etc.).
Conclusion
You should still obtain health insurance even if you are young and do not yet have a lifestyle disease. Instead, it would help if you invested early in a quality health plan to gain a discount on the health insurance premium and comprehensive cover after the waiting period.
Use a broker or a reliable online platform to help you choose the best plan for your needs. While you can lead a healthy lifestyle and try to avoid lifestyle diseases, they are getting more and more prevalent. Since you already have a lot on your plate, why not acquire health insurance and let the insurer worry about the cost?
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Four behavioural risk factors—tobacco use, an unhealthy diet, a lack of physical activity, and excessive alcohol consumption—significantly increase the risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Some insurers take the policy beneficiaries' medical histories into account, while others might only do so for a predetermined time. However, before presenting a health insurance plan, insurers may require beneficiaries to undergo medical examinations.
You might need to buy a new plan if you want comprehensive coverage that covers ailments related to a sedentary lifestyle. The current plan might be kept, or you could invest in two policies, one of which would cover lifestyle disorders.
It depends on the kind of policy it is. For example, group medical cover permits claim to be made immediately, whereas private family-floater or individual plans could require a waiting time before you can use the policy's benefits.
The insurer might decline to pay your health insurance claim if you fail to declare a pre-existing condition, such as diabetes, asthma, hypertension, or other lifestyle conditions.