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Health Insurance to Protect Against Pollution Risks

By Vikas Chandra Das
15 November 2022, 2:32 PM

The deteriorating climatic conditions are currently one of the main reasons for an increase in the frequency of medical emergencies in India. Environmental pollution is the beginning of pollutants or toxic substances that harm the environment. Air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, and noise pollution are the main types of pollution that seriously threaten human society. Environmental pollution is the collective term for all of these types of contamination. All these types of pollution have harmed humanity. So as pollution continues to rise, have a robust health insurance plan to deal with the potential financial scars resulting from the same..

Pollution and Health - Understanding the Inter-related Scenario

The most fundamental element of existence is oxygen. Unfortunately, the air quality has gotten so bad that it is often almost impossible to breathe fresh air in India and other cities worldwide. Directly, this has had a crippling impact on our health, and things are becoming progressively unfavourable on a daily basis. The amount of resources consumed due to the vast majority of human activity has been enormous in a nation like India, which is moving quickly toward becoming a developed country. Our ability to breathe clean air has been seriously harmed by continuing development projects, infrastructure construction and vehicle traffic, leading to further health-related problems.

Our bodies are impacted in several ways by illnesses and conditions brought on by air pollution. Sometimes they show up as mild to severe breathing problems, wheezing, chest pains, etc., and a typical OPD visit can effectively manage the disease. Unfortunately, the illnesses can sometimes be too severe and call for lengthy hospital stays or extensive treatment regimens. In these situations, in addition to the patient's physical and emotional suffering, the patient's family must pay for expensive medical care. Moreover, even after treatment, a patient might need additional medical attention for full recovery, which would have a terrible financial impact on the family and force them to forgo spending money on vital aspirations like a wedding or a child's schooling. As a result, having a health insurance plan in place is crucial to protecting the family's finances.

The Need for a Health Insurance Policy Amid Rising Pollution

We all know that we buy health insurance coverage to protect our hard-earned money in a medical emergency. So, what exactly is the link between growing air pollution levels and health insurance? When we look at the developing trends in India, it is not hard to understand. Diseases caused by air pollution may necessitate hospitalisation for treatment. Compare this to the concurrent developing financial awareness among the general population in India and the universal urge to secure financial resources. As a result, many citizens in Indian regions file claims for payment of treatment costs for ailments caused by air pollution.

Environmental pollution is increasing the number of health risks. As a result, people are purchasing more health insurance policies to deal with these medical emergencies. A health insurance policy provides certain fundamental advantages that assist ordinary people in combating severe illnesses caused by pollution. These advantages, particularly beneficial in combating pollution-related dangers, are given below.

OPD Protection

Various health insurance policies offer outpatient department coverage, typically known as OPD coverage. This is a significant benefit provided by health insurance policies for patients suffering from pollution-related ailments. OPD coverage includes hospitalisation expenditures and claims for reimbursement of other charges such as pharmaceutical bills, health check-ups, consultation fees, and so on.

Expenses for Pre and Post-Hospitalisation

Patients suffering from respiratory or cardiovascular disease conditions benefit from health insurance policies that cover pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation charges. Before hospitalisation, there would be a series of medical tests, specialist consultations, and so on. These fees would be costly, and the coverage provided by a health insurance policy would be highly beneficial.

Similarly, even after the patient is discharged, there may be various charges such as drugs, consultations, additional medical check-ups and tests, etc. These charges are covered by health insurance policies, alleviating the policyholder's financial burden.

Cashless Hospitalisation

Cashless hospitalisation is a useful and crucial feature of health insurance programmes. In a cashless hospitalisation, the policyholder does not have to worry about settling medical costs or paying charges. The policyholder will only need to go to a network hospital of the insurance carrier and notify it of the problem. Then, the hospital and the insurance provider will make the necessary arrangements.

Domiciliary Cover

Even after the patient is discharged, countless medications and therapies must be completed dutifully by the patient. The costs of such drugs and therapies might strain the patient and his family's finances. However, a health insurance policy that covers these costs might be highly beneficial in such a case.

Alternative Therapy coverage

If a policyholder added this feature while purchasing the coverage, it would be very useful. In some cases, allopathic medication may be replaced with alternative treatments such as AYUSH (Ayurvedic, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy). Your health insurance policy may also reimburse the costs of employing these alternative treatments.

Conclusion 

With rising levels of pollutants and toxins in the environment, substantial health concerns are unavoidable. We should be prepared to meet such threats because they are always unexpected and tend to deplete all of our money. Health insurance with specific coverage is required to combat these contaminants and the hazardous diseases they induce.

FAQs

1. What does a health insurance policy cover?

A health insurance plan provides extensive medical coverage for hospitalisation, pre-hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation, ambulance expenditures, and other medical expenses.

2. What causes pollution?

Air pollution, lead and other chemical exposure, and hazardous wastes, including inappropriate e-waste disposal, cause debilitating and fatal illnesses, create hazardous living circumstances, and destroy ecosystems.

3. What are the five negative consequences of pollution on human health?

Air pollution is regarded as a key environmental risk factor in the occurrence and progression of specific diseases such as asthma, lung cancer, ventricular hypertrophy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, psychological difficulties, autism, retinopathy, foetal growth, and low birth weight.

4. Is there an acceptable quantity of air pollution for human health?

The World Health Organization's revised Air Quality Guidelines underline that there is no safe amount of air pollution.

5. What is the most significant source of pollution?

The main causes of air pollution are industrial sources, fossil fuel-powered motor vehicles. Continuous combustion of fossil fuels emits air pollutants, emissions, and chemicals into the atmosphere.

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