What are the benefits of a hospital cash insurance plan?
You must know that the tenure for receiving the hospital cash benefits varies from one insurer to another
A hospicash or hospital cash plan is an insurance plan that provides a fixed sum insured to meet miscellaneous expenses for each day of hospitalization exceeding 24 hours. You can buy such plans as an add-on along with your existing health policy. Abhishek Misra, CEO and principal officer, Bonanza Insurance, explains, “Suppose a person purchases a hospicash cover which offers a cover of ₹2,000 per day in the event of hospitalization. In that case, if hospitalization is for two days, the person will receive an amount of ₹2,000 for the 2nd day of hospitalization as a minimum of 24 hours of hospitalization is necessary for claims. You can use ₹2,000 for miscellaneous expenses like travel of your family members or cost of surgical equipment, etc., that base health insurance plan typically doesn’t cover."
You must also know that the tenure for receiving the hospital cash benefits varies from one insurer to another. However, such plans are most commonly available for 15, 30, and 45 days. Aatur Thakkar, co-founder and director, Alliance Insurance Brokers, said, “Hospital cash plan also comes with the waiting period clause, but the waiting period is of short tenures, and you need to be hospitalized for a minimum of 24 hours."
You can buy such a plan along with your existing health insurance plan. The standard eligibility criteria usually includes adults in the ages of 18 to 65 years and children from 6 months to 25 years if the parents are simultaneously insured. And further, to claim the hospital’s daily cash benefit, you need to share the documents with the insurer stating that you were admitted to a hospital. You can share copies of evidence to show the duration of hospital stay.
Benefits: An existing health insurance plan could have sub-limits and not cover miscellaneous expenses such as loss of pay, cost of attendants, household expenses, X-rays, and cost of surgical equipment, etc. A hospital cash benefit plan can help recover the cost of such expenses.
Rakesh Goyal, director, Probus Insurance, said, “Hospicash is one of the best options to cover the extra expenses during income loss. This plan can save on the no claim bonus (NCB) during minor medical expenses. There is no need for any supporting bills under this plan. Moreover, even if the actual expenses are below the fixed amount, the insurer wouldn’t ask for the additional amount." For instance, even if your daily utilization is below the fixed amount of ₹2,000 per day (as fixed while buying the plan), you will still be paid the specified amount.
What is not covered? Hospitalization for less than 24 hours is not covered under these plans. Goyal said, “The plan comes with certain exclusions. For instance, fertility-related illnesses, self-inflicted injury, cosmetic surgeries, pre-existing diseases, non-allopathic treatment are some of the common issues excluded from the hospicash plan."
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