5 Top Health Insurance Plans in India to Survive From Pollution

India has been shown as one of the most air polluted countries in the world by the WHO in 2014. Air pollution can be considered as one of the major causes behind the deaths taking place in India. The number of respiratory ailments and other diseases related to it such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory infections, etc. is on an increase in the country.

The Central Pollution Control Board has reported around 41 cities in India to have a poor quality of air. Around 6, 20,000 deaths occur across the country due to the ailments caused because of air pollution. However, air pollution cannot be considered to be the only form of pollution that is prevalent in India. Water pollution and Noise pollution are also the causes of many deaths occurring in the country.

These diseases are a primary cause of increased monetary expenses among the common people. The cost of medical treatment in India is soaring high with every passing day. In metropolitan cities, the expenses incurred for private hospitalisation is highly expensive. In addition to that, other expenses such as the specialist’s fees, medicines, OPD charges, etc. are even too high. In such scenarios, it is difficult for a common man to avail of these facilities and bear the expenses. So, health insurance plans become a mandate in such situations.

Health Care for Pollution-related Ailments

When it is about the various ailments related to the air-pollution, people usually follow OPD care as the ailments can be cured without the need for hospitalisation. Earlier, the OPD Care in India was not given much importance; however, the scenario has changed now. A large number of health insurance companies today provide health insurance plans which cover the OPD charges along with medical expenses that are incurred even if there has been no hospitalisation.

Some of the major health insurance plans in India which provide OPD coverage can be listed below:-

1. ICICI Lombard Health Advantage Plus
2. Under this health insurance plan, OPD coverage is available right from the beginning of the policy.
3. The policy also provides maternity benefits, coverage for the diagnostic tests, medicines, and consultation expenses for the specialists.
4. However, only a single claim can be made for availing the OPD coverage during a policy year.
5. Cigna TTK Pro-health Accumulate Plan 
6. There is a personal health wallet available in this health insurance policy through which policyholders can maintain funds and also make payments for his OPD expenses.
7. Moreover, if the money which is present in the health wallet has not been used then it can be carried forward to the next policy year. Also, there would be a hike of 5% on the money which is available in the wallet.
8. Policyholders can avail benefits for coverage on the OPD expenses, dental and optical treatment, medical bills, etc.

However, there might be times when the OPD care would not be adequate for the treatment and further intensive care would be needed. The effects of the pollution-related ailments can be so harmful that the need for hospitalisation might arise. In such a case, a health insurance policy would be the saviour of high medical expenses. An individual health insurance policy is perfect for a single person and yet to start a family; whereas married individuals with children can opt for the family floater health insurance policy. 

A large number of health insurance plans are available in the market today. However, while purchasing a health insurance policy some basic parameters must be checked out. These parameters can be the coverage provided, annual check-up, renewability, claim settlement, maternity health insurance benefit, critical illness cover, alternate treatment, etc. One of the most important factors to be considered in the health insurance policy is the Sum Insured of the policy. Your sum insured must be adequate to provide cover in case of small as well as bigger medical requirements.

Top Health Insurance Plans for Survival from Pollution

Let us check out the top health insurance plans in India which can help in surviving pollution if there are cases of hospitalisation involved.

1. HDFC ERGO General Health Suraksha Gold Policy
   1. This plan comes with mainly three variants i.e. Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Each variant has a different sum insured and different benefits
   2. The minimum age for purchasing this policy is 91 days whereas there is no age limit on the purchase of this policy
   3. Policyholders can avail the benefit of coverage for the pre-hospitalisation expenses up to 60 days, in-patient hospitalisation expenses, post-hospitalisation expenses up to 90 days, coverage for expenses of an organ donor, and daycare procedures
2. Care Plan by Care Health Insurance
   1. The Care Plan has five variants i.e. Super Saver (Care 3), Elite (Care 4), Elite Plus (Care 5), Global (Care 6), and Global Plus (Care 7)
   2. The sum insured can range from INR 4 lakh to around INR 6 crore
   3. Policyholders can avail of the benefits of coverage for expenses related to pre-hospitalisation up to 30 days, in-patient hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation up to 60 days, daycare treatments, domiciliary hospitalisation, etc.
   4. Several other benefits are also available for the policyholders such as NCB, Unlimited Auto Recharge, Personal Accident Care, Air Ambulance, Global coverage, etc.
3. Max Bupa Health Companion Individual Plan
   1. The sum insured for this policy can be starting from INR 2 lakh up to INR 1 crore
   2. Policyholders can avail of the benefits of coverage for in-patient hospitalisation expenses, coverage for pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses up to 30 days and 60 days respectively
   3. This health insurance plan has the feature of lifetime renewability and also a free lookup period of 15 days
4. Star Family Health Optima Plan
   1. This health insurance policy has a sum insured ranging from INR 3 lakh up to INR 25 lakh
   2. It would offer three times a 100% restoration benefit of the sum assured once it is exhausted
   3. Policyholders can avail the benefit of coverage for expenses involved in an in-patient hospitalisation, pre-hospitalisation, and post-hospitalisation up to 60 and 90 days respectively, expenses incurred in daycare procedures, domiciliary hospitalisation, etc.
5. Bajaj Allianz Health Guard
   1. The Bajaj Allianz Health Guard offers the benefit of cashless hospitalisation across 4000 network hospitals throughout India
   2. Policyholders can avail of the benefits of lifelong renewability of the health insurance plan
   3. Benefits such as coverage for expenses related to pre-hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation, coverage for specialist consultation fees, coverage for bills related to medicines, etc. are also available for the policyholders.

Conclusion

So, even if people claim to be highly cautious about pollution and its adverse impacts, there is not much to be done about the rapidly rising pollution-related illnesses. One important thing which can be done is to ensure that these illnesses and treatments do not create a hole in your pockets and drain out your savings. Hence, a good health insurance policy with adequate coverage and maximum benefits must be purchased soon. While purchasing health insurance policies for pollution-related illnesses, it is necessary to read the policy documents carefully. This would give you a complete understanding of the cover, inclusions, and exclusions of the policy.