Preventative Healthcare in India – Packages and Tests Included
In the era we live in today, we have several reasons to buy ourselves health insurance plans. Changes in our lifestyle to sedentary habits, smoking, and alcohol have increased the probability of suffering through non-communicable ailments, mostly the ones residing in cities.
Consumption of high-calorie junk food, alcohol, smoking, pollution, and a sedentary lifestyle has led to a surge in lifestyle-related ailments. This includes hypertension, diabetes, COPD, asthma, cancer, and cardiovascular-related diseases. These diseases mostly remain undetected for the major portion of our lives and only manifest symptoms at a much later and more severe stage. These pose a great threat to your and your family’s future financial security as well as to the Indian economy. That’s why, it’s a wise decision to secure your future with health insurance schemes.
The best solution for this major threat is regular screening tests. However, due to sudden inflation in the healthcare sector, these tests can burn a hole in your pocket. That’s why preventative healthcare packages are the need of the hour nowadays.
What is Preventative Healthcare?
Preventative healthcare is the regular screening for identifying and minimizing or eliminating the risk factors, early detection of disease, and improvement in the course of current diseases. You might be unknowingly having a life-threatening health issue like cancer which if detected early has a very good prognosis and ensure complete recovery unlike when it is detected at later stages. That’s why it has now become crucial as it allows people to know about dormant ailments which might manifest into deadly diseases in the future beforehand.
What are Preventative Healthcare Packages?
These are the plans offered by health insurance companies to their customers at a very affordable premium to undergo regular screening health check-ups. There are a lot of plans available. You can choose according to your health requirements and use them for early detection of life-threatening ailments and limit disease progression and course of treatment. On top of that these check-ups also take into consideration your family history of chronic and critical illnesses. You can modify your lifestyle and adopt healthy habits, based on the reports of your preventative health check-up.
Tests Covered Under Preventive Health Check-up
The following tests are usually performed under Preventive Health Check-up:
| Type | Tests |
| Diabetes | Fasting and Random Blood Sugar |
| Liver | Liver enzymes, serum bilirubin, SGPT/SGOT, Liver function tests (LFTs) |
| Heart | ECG, 2D Echocardiogram, Chest X-ray, Coronary Angiography |
| Kidney | Serum Creatinine, Blood Urea, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) |
| Cancer/Tumor Markers | Pap Smear and Transvaginal Ultrasound (TVS) (For women aged 40 years and above), Breast Mammography for women above 30 years, Prostate Specific Antibody (PSA) for men above 45 years |
| Abdominal | Abdominal ultrasound |
| Thyroid | TSH, T3 and T4 level |
| Lipid Profile | Cholesterol, High Density Lipoproteins (HDL), Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL), Triglycerides |
| Blood tests | Complete blood count (CBC), C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Blood Enzyme Tests |
Types of Healthcare Packages
Health insurance companies offer various types of healthcare packages in India. These packages may be age-specific, disease-specific, or gender-specific. The rise in the number of available lucrative packages has not only helped enlightened Individuals but has also helped spread awareness among other people as well.
Here is a list of the type of healthcare packages offered by health insurance companies:
Regular Health Checkup Packages
In this health insurance policyholders can visit specific hospitals for routine check-ups and make sure everything is all right with their health.
Read more - Benefits of Getting Annual Health Checkups Under Your Health Insurance
Child health Packages
Regardless of age good health is very important for an individual. Under this package, parents can take their children from age 0 to 13 years. These programs include check-ups from pediatrics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Radiology, dental, regular health check-up, etc.
Read more - All about Child Health Insurance Plans in India
Family Packages
These cover the entire family for a dental check-up, full body check-up, dietary consultation, general surgery, ENT, Ophthalmology, cardiology, etc. They also offer customized health check-ups for males and females at a very affordable premium at top-notch health facilities in India.
Read more - How Do Health Insurance Costs Get Affected by Family Size?
Cardiac Packages
These are specifically tailored for heart-related diseases in health insurance policyholders. These cover check-ups and consultations for the risk of cardiac arrest, heart failure, stroke, and many more.
Read more - Best Health Insurance Plan For Heart Patients
Cancer Packages
This is the most feared health concern of this age. Due to changes in lifestyle, smoking, alcohol, and other addictions. Cancer is one of the most common causes of mortality. This package provides regular screening for early detection and intervention leading to better prognosis and survival.
Read more - 10 Reasons Why Having a Cancer Insurance Policy is Beneficial
Dental Check-up
Policyholders can get a regular dental check-up and keep that perfect smile and maintain dental hygiene at various health establishments.
Read more - Is Dental Treatment Covered in Health Insurance?
Diabetes Packages
Individuals can also choose diabetes check-ups to keep the health of vital organs in check.
Read more - 10 Healthy Lifestyle Habits for Diabetic Individuals
Fertility Packages
These include fertility ratio check-up which includes various tests and consultation from healthcare professionals.
Corporate/Executive Plans
Under this executive and corporate health insurance policyholders can procure preventative health check-ups at a subsidized rate. These may also be tailored according to the needs of the organization.
Health insurance policyholders are free to choose among various preventative health check-up plans. The main purpose of these plans is to diagnose the disease in its preliminary stage to reduce the progression and course of the illness. So, choose a plan which best fits your medical profile to stay safe and healthy.
Who Can Avail Tax Benefits Under Section 80D?
| Individuals | HUF | Senior Citizens |
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Takeaway Message
A preventative healthcare plan is a tool designed to keep you up to date with your health status. As in these times, stress has become a constant ally in meeting deadlines, interpersonal conflicts, and social issues maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not easy.
While recent developments in medical science have improved survival chances and treatment options for various diseases. Critical ailments when diagnosed at the final stages in never good. That’s why detection of ailments at a preliminary stage is your best bet for a healthy and stress-free life.
Thus, you must get a preventative healthcare plan and build up your health insurance profile.
Preventative health check-up is a programs designed for the early detection of diseases using a series of laboratory investigations.
No, it is not required by law. But signing up for a preventative health check-up plan will be helpful in the early detection of diseases, and save your money in case of medical issues. You can also get a tax exemption. This plan can also be extended to your family members. And, includes hospitalization, ambulance charges, lab investigations, small procedures, etc.
As many diseases have an incubation period i.e. the period between the first appearance of symptoms and infection. Regular preventative health check-ups can help them diagnose in the early stages only and prevent the disease from progressing further.
A comprehensive preventive health check-up package can range from anywhere between INR 1000 to 12999 depending upon the type and number of tests and screenings included.
Yes, Hemogram is part of most preventative health care. Hemogram is a complete blood analysis and with the help of regular screening, some blood-related diseases can be diagnosed at early stages.