Can I Buy Health Insurance If I Have Allergies?
Living with allergies can be a harrowing experience. An allergic reaction is your immune system's response to an otherwise harmless foreign substance in the body. While this substance may not affect other people at all, your immune system perceives it as a threat and attempts to fight it with antibodies. Allergic reactions can range in severity, from low to even life-threatening emergencies. In the case of a mild allergic reaction, you may feel symptoms like rashes, sneezing and itchiness. However, an allergic reaction can also be as serious as anaphylaxis which requires immediate medical attention, and you never know when you might get your next allergy flare-up. It is a huge misconception, but these conditions will not disqualify you from being able to avail of health insurance to support your treatment. In fact, it will be helpful to be financially well-equipped to deal with the unpredictable expenses incurred in allergy treatments. What better way to do that than to buy a health insurance plan?
How Can Health Insurance Help if You Have Allergies?
One of the best-known health insurance benefits is that it enables you to face any medical crisis confidently. While it might be assumed by most that a prolonged, pre-existing allergy might make it difficult for you to get health insurance or that you won't require health insurance at all, that is absolutely not the case. With allergies, you may run into medical expenses at any time. The frequency and severity of your allergy may be too much for you to manage financially on your own. Therefore, you need an insurance plan that offers coverage for your allergy treatments.
There are several types of health insurance plans available in the market today. If you don't have any allergies, a regular plan may suffice for you. But if you're prone to allergies, you should look for special health plans that offer the necessary coverage. Over the years, health insurance policies have witnessed many changes. Insurance companies are increasingly recognising the healthcare needs of the Indian population, over 30% of which suffers from allergies. They realise that covering only the general medical expenditures is no longer enough. Given the varying medical needs of people, companies are now coming up with personalised plans that consider even uncommon, specific conditions.
5 Things to Consider When Buying Health Insurance for Allergies
Here are a few things you should check beforehand to ensure that the health insurance you choose is supportive of the allergy condition(s) you have:
Evaluate Your Allergy Condition
Before you purchase health insurance, assess your allergy. Consider what symptoms you feel during a reaction, how severe they can become, and how easy/difficult it is to treat them. If you have a normal allergy that only presents mild and manageable symptoms, you don't need a health insurance plan specifically catering to that. Treatments for such cases wouldn't burn a hole in your pocket. However, if it's a serious allergy that poses acute symptoms leading to hospitalisation, you should look for a plan that covers allergy-related treatment and hospital expenses.
Research and Compare
It's a good practice to research and compare health insurance plans before committing to one. You want a policy that goes beyond the usual coverage scope and includes your allergy condition. Check each policy for inclusions and exclusions. You can find the best information on various plans and experience a convenient insurance plan buying process on the Paytm Insurance broking platform.
Discuss with Your Potential Insurer
Make sure to have an in-depth and upfront discussion about your medical history with your prospective insurer. You should give them a detailed account of your existing conditions, including allergies and family medical history. Ask them about the best options available for your requirements. It's worth paying a high premium for a plan that precisely meets your needs. You should also seek clarity on other insurance aspects like sub-limits, waiting periods, limitations, etc.
Understand the Insurance Claim Process
In these times when cashless transactions have become the norm, you also want the same convenience for your insurance claims, as such transactions make life much easier. Check with the insurance company if it offers cashless health insurance. This would mean that the hospital and the insurance company will work directly with each other for claim settlements. Ask the insurance company about the benefits of seeking treatment at one of their cashless network hospitals. You should also ask if they provide coverage for pre- and post-hospitalisation costs.
Are Preventative Treatments Covered?
If you're willing to take control of your allergies and minimise their impact on your life, you may be willing to try out a preventative approach. This includes turning to alternative medicine treatments like ayurveda or homoeopathy for managing your allergies. You should check with the insurance company to see if they offer any provisions for covering expenses incurred in such treatments.
Conclusion
Your allergies should never be a hindrance in getting a health insurance plan. Allergies can potentially have a significant adverse impact on your health, which is why it's so vital to opt for a suitable health insurance plan that offers support in dealing with expensive allergy-related costs. Allergic or not, a health plan is quite helpful in the hour of need. Hence, buying a health insurance policy is a must. Whether you need a basic plan or something more specialised, that's for you to decide. You can explore different options to find a plan that considers your specific medical needs, like allergies or other pre-existing health conditions.
Read more -
No, having allergies isn't grounds for disqualification from buying a plan. It's all the more reason to buy a health insurance plan. You should study the policy in detail to see if the plan covers your allergy condition and to what extent.
It varies from plan to plan. For example, plans may provide coverage for serious allergy cases requiring hospitalisation but not for treating mild and common allergy cases.
Frequent allergic reactions could mean frequent OPD visits. These OPD expenses add up over time. Consult with your insurer to see if it can provide health insurance with OPD cover for your allergy.
If you already have allergies, they will be considered pre-existing conditions. In that case, there will be a waiting period for leveraging allergy-related insurance benefits. Usually, this period is 2 to 4 years long.
This will depend on the insurance company. While some may provide coverage for allergy treatments under the same premium amount, others may ask for an extra amount to cover a particular allergy.