HIV/AIDS is a deadly disease that many people are fearful of, the reason is mainly that there is no cure available yet. If a person gets HIV/AIDS, he or she has to live with the disease for the rest of his or her life.
With prolonged and expensive research worldwide, some medicines have been found that control the symptoms of HIV/AIDS, but no specific treatment has yet been discovered that completely cures the patient of this disorder.
Sadly, there is also a large social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS which makes it even more difficult for the patients to cope with the conditions.
Most health insurance plans list HIV/AIDS as an exclusion, making it further difficult for the people infected with HIV. Thankfully, the scenario is slowly but surely changing.
So, can an HIV positive patient find health insurance? Take a look at this article to find out.
What is HIV/AIDS?
HIV/AIDS is a viral infection that gets transmitted through bodily fluids.
It is commonly sexually transmitted from one person to the other. It can also happen after a blood transfusion or if an injection needle is shared.
The HIV virus affects the immune system of the body. As a result, the human body is unable to fight even the smallest of disorders that it would otherwise easily fight off. This leads to a constant degeneration of the person’s health and soon he dies. HIV and its effects on the body can be reduced or controlled by certain medicines, but the virus can not be completely removed from the body.
Why is Health Insurance Commonly Unavailable for HIV Positive Patients?
As stated, HIV makes a person weak from within. The person finds it difficult to recuperate from any illness and so even a minor illness becomes very severe. If the person has a serious ailment, getting treated and recovering from that becomes a big challenge. It is expensive too. This gives the person a risky profile and insurance companies do not want to sell their health plans to an HIV positive patient.
Is There Any Health Insurance Plan Option Available for HIV Positive Patients?
While almost every health insurance company in India refuses to issue health plans to HIV positive patients, Star Health Insurance stands apart.
Star Health is the first and only insurer in the country that offers health insurance even to people who are already HIV positive. If the proposer has a CD4 count of under 150, he or she will be eligible for the Star Health Net Plus Insurance Plan.
This is a major boon for many people as health insurance is an important life requirement. The covers available under the Star Health Net Plus Insurance plan include:
- In-hospital Care
The Star Health Net Plus Insurance Plan pays for all in-patient care expenses. The physician fees, nursing charges, surgery costs, diagnostic tests, etc. are covered under this overhead and it helps the person to receive wholesome medical treatment for an ailment or injury.
- Pre and post-hospital Care
Often, certain health conditions require pre and post-hospital care. When you buy the Star Health Net Plus Insurance Plan, you get coverage for pre and post-hospital care as well.
- Emergency Ambulance Service
Is also available with this plan up to INR 750 per hospitalisation and INR 1,500 per policy year for transportation to and from the hospital.
- Day Care Treatment
For a listed number of treatments, a day care facility of hospitalisation for less than 24 hours is also payable under this plan. It covers treatments like cataract, chemotherapy, dental surgery etc. for which 24 hours hospitalisation is not necessary.
Also Read : Know Complete Details about Health Insurance Claims
The Final Word
HIV/AIDS is a serious condition and a person affected with it requires extra medical care. Sadly, the Indian health insurance companies do not offer health insurance to HIV positive patients and this makes it even more difficult for such patients to keep themselves fit and healthy. Star Health Insurance has been a pioneer and a true leader in this area and hopefully, the other insurance companies will follow the suit. Everyone deserves to have health insurance so that a medical condition such as HIV/AIDS should never be a deterrent.
