Do I Need a Health Insurance? | Spring Money

Health insurance is necessary for every individual. The insurance helps you cover a part of, or even whole of the medical expenses, as is mentioned in the policy that an individual buys, in case of a medical emergency. The small amount spent on insurance ends up protecting you from the probable heavy costs that you might have to pay in case of such situation.

With the growing costs of medical expenses and facilities around it, any such situation could prove a huge drain on the wallet. Covering these expenses using insurance is a great way to deal with the same. One does not have to be, rather should not wait till 60 to invest in a health insurance. If one observes the last few years or even a couple of decades, the lifestyle has been drastically changing. With the sedentary lifestyle, our habits have changed significantly, making us more prone to illnesses and medical emergencies. Although the ecosystem is well equipped with better medical facilities, drugs and solutions, the likelihood for any individual to get affected by diseases is also on the rise. Hence, it is of utmost importance to have a health insurance.

A few reasons why individuals need a health insurance include:

Changing lifestyle

There are numerous reasons to have health insurance coverage in place, starting with a changing lifestyle. Our lifestyle's tectonic change has increased our susceptibility to a variety of illnesses. The likelihood of acquiring health issues has increased as a result of commuting, stressful work schedules, poor eating habits, quality of food, and increasing pollution levels.

Although this might seem from a very urbane lifestyle, for only the working population, the general lifestyle of any average Indian has also significantly changed. The trend of falling ill only during one’s old age does not hold true anymore. Pre-existing conditions like cholesterol, BP or diabetes are also a consequence of the modern lifestyle and its stress. Moreover, due to increasingly frequent interactions with people from different geographies, mobility across borders and such reasons, any individual is more likely to get exposed to much more variety of risks, than what the case was even a few decades ago.

Rising medical costs

Medical expenses have been on the rise significantly. And this increase is not the overall inflation rate, which is around 6-7%, but the medical inflation in India currently stands at 15%. Therefore, in the event of a major medical emergency, customers end up using their savings, which has an impact on long-term goals. According to reports, Indians generally rely on their personal money to cover medical crises. Buying a medical insurance is the way to tackle this, while saving your emergency funds at least to a good extent.

Coverage of pre and post hospitalisation expenses

Pre- and post-hospitalization charges are covered. Pre-hospitalization expenses refer to the expenses that are incurred before your hospitalization. This category of expenses includes investigative procedures, diagnostic tests, medication, X-rays, and more. Post hospitalization expenses refer to the expenses that are incurred after the patient is discharged from the hospital. This category of expenses includes medicine, follow-up visits, certain tests, consulting fees, and more.

As the cost of diagnostic tests and OPD fees have increased recently, it is now more important than ever to purchase healthcare insurance.

Tax benefit

Section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act allows for tax deductions for the amount paid for health insurance premiums.

Up to Rs. 25,000 in deductions are available to anyone under the age of 60 for health insurance premiums they have paid for themselves, their spouse, or their kids. If you purchase health insurance for your parents who are 60 years of age or older, you may also deduct an additional Rs. 50,000 from your income. This deduction will be allowed for contributions made toward an individual's senior citizen's yearly health insurance premium, preventative health examination, or medical expenses. Therefore, instead of the previous Rs. 55,000 (Rs. 25,000 + 30,000), you can now receive a total deduction of up to Rs. 75,000 (Rs. 25,000 + 50,000) if you are paying the health insurance payments for your elderly parents.

Protect Savings

Your hard-earned savings might be drained because of medical expenses.

By buying a tailor-made health insurance policy one can eliminate the mental anguish of these expenses emptying one’s savings. Not just that, with tax benefits and reimbursements you can protect your savings.

Protection to your family

Families are special and treasured. It is essential to prioritize the family’s health and one best way to ensure apt protection is through health insurance schemes. This way even your family is protected in adverse times. Moreover, they would not have to shoulder financial burdens as well during medical emergencies.

Additional benefits

Health insurance also provides advantages including ambulance coverage, coverage for day-care surgeries, coverage for health check-up, organ donor expenses, domiciliary expenses, and vaccine costs, and more.

There are various other benefits that can be deemed out of health insurance. However, the mental sense of protection one gets after knowing that he is covered with an insurance plan during his rough times is commendable. Hence, taking a health insurance plan is necessary and has its own perks.