Although everyone knows that the novel corona virus has originally emanated from the Wuhan city of china, there is a lot of uncertainty and controversy regarding exactly how the virus got developed and transmitted to humans and of course the first time since it started spreading. But one thing is for sure that the level of devastation it has created for the whole world is unparalleled and which human kind have not seen in decades and will never forget.
Inspite of long nationwide lockdown and numerous measures taken by the government, the numbers are consistently increasing in India and in metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai is posing a serious challenge to the medical infrastructure and facilities. Nations are putting hard work and effort to develop a vaccine as soon as possible for the eradication of the virus but the same is like a distant dream in the current scenario.
With the lockdown unfolding and public ready to return to their normalcy, prevention at the individual level is the best way to avoid an infection risk and break the chain of this deadly and fast spreading virus.
This can be done by strictly following government guidelines, maintaining social distancing, washing your hands regularly, increasing immunity, diet changes, daily exercises and healthy lifestyle etc. The behaviour of people at large will surely change after the COVID era in almost every facets and dimensions right away from shopping to travelling and a lot more.
Regarding preparedness the best way is to opt for a health insurance policy which will pay for the hospitalization expenses not only if you are tested COVID positive but any other disease as per terms of the policy.
A health insurance policy is like mandatory for every family and COVID pandemic has shown us the same. In this article we will discuss some points regarding the emergence of the novel coronavirus and health insurance.
- Hospitalization due to coronavirus is generally covered under all health insurance plans provided by insurers may be non-life or standalone health. Everything starting from pre and post hospitalization, diagnostic and confirmatory tests, consultation costs, quarantine related medical expenses as a part of treatment will also covered. Therefore, you need not to worry much if you already have a family floater health insurance or an employer provided group product covering you and your family in place, just check it out with your existing insurer for any query or confusion regarding coverage of coronavirus.
- Again, if you don’t have any existing health insurance and realized the importance of the same now in wake of this pandemic, straight away go and purchase a health insurance policy online from the comfort of your home without being any late further. This can be a best decision you make in these challenging times in respect of getting prepared to deal with any unfortunate situation. Just heed the waiting period the insurance product haves as in this period you cannot file a claim with the insurer.
- Many coronavirus disease specific insurance products are also being sold in the market as per sandbox regulations of IRDAI. This will cover only your hospitalization and treatment costs if you are found COVID positive and not from any other disease or sickness. You can try and opt for them if you feel the need.
- It has been seen that normal Cost for coronavirus treatment has increased from around 50-100k to 100-200k due to increase in cost of consumables, patient distancing in hospitals etc. And this can go upto 500-800k if some co-morbidities are involved or person is getting treatment in an expensive hospital. In the current situation you do not know exactly which hospital there will be bed availability in case of an emergency thus it is better to choose your sum insured after careful consideration.
- Also, in coronavirus treatment there is a substantial amount of consumable charges like PPE kits, disinfectants, N-95 masks and many others which are excluded from the scope of health insurance, for these expenses insured needs to bear the cost from his own pocket. The list of consumables excluded in health insurance is mentioned in the policy document, if any doubt needs discussion and clarification from the insurer.
- Insurance regulatory and development authority of India (IRDAI) has issued a special circular as guidelines to handling of claims reported under to insurers covering hospitalization risks to expeditiously settle coronavirus related claims. As per the regulator insurers should clear cashless treatment requests within 2 hours of receipt of the same.
- Insurer have also been asked to establish systems and processes to efficient pre-authorization on a 24-hour basis for prompt claim settlement. Before repudiation of any COVID related claims it must be thoroughly assessed by the claims review committee of the insurer. These are a number of policyholder’s interest protection measures taken by the regulator to help common public at the time of this uncertainty and panic.
- Still from the figures published and data received from multiple sources it has been found that a for majority of coronavirus cases detected and treated there was hardly any health or life insurance available. This is high time people should think about this serious issue and get themselves and their family adequately protected by insurance as the pandemic is not to go away so quickly and we need to be cautious and prepared both to give it a fight back.