COVID-19 Pandemic: The growing need of Health Insurance for families

Tales of the financial ordeal faced by the families of patients hospitalized during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to the realization of getting a medical insurance cover among individuals and families. From in-patient accommodations to medical consultations and medicines, hospitals do not hesitate in charging a hefty amount.

Unfortunately, once cannot ensure 100% safety against injuries or illnesses but it makes sense to be financially prepared to meet the expenses involved with a medical insurance cover.

Advertisement

Although the Indian government has taken important measures and imposed strict guidelines like public sanitization, social distancing and increased testing, but COVID-19 positive cases are still rising constantly.

Looking at the gravity of the situation and the panic surrounding this pandemic, an increasing number of people are opting for Health insurance plans for family to protect their loved ones and their finances. Amid the ongoing coronavirus crises, all the Insurance firms have witnessed an uptick in policyholders.

The Rising Demand for Health Insurance in 2020

In 2019, more than 472 million people were covered under different health insurance schemes.

As per the reports, General insurance companies have received over INR 5,400 claims from coronavirus positive patients and have settled close to 2.17 Lakh claims till the first week of October 2020. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the ratio of health portfolio is likely to increase by 8%-10% if the claims continue to rise in the same manner.

As per the industry reports, health insurance had seen premiums of INR 51,636.34 Crore in the fiscal year 2019-20, which is 13.41% higher in comparison to the last year. And the novel coronavirus claims account to 10.5% of the medical insurance premiums received in the previous financial year.

And the main question that arises is does your existing health plan covers COVID-19 expenses?

Yes, it does!

All the health insurance plans are designed to cover hospitalization expenses incurred on all kinds of illnesses and diseases unless it is a disease-specific plan. Moreover, Insurers are now offering health insurance plans on monthly subscription model to make health insurance more affordable to customers. They can now pay the premium on monthly basis instead of paying it in lump sum.

Also, there are specific coronavirus health insurance plans that have been launched as per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) guidelines to cover the COVID hospitalization expenses. The two policies are Corona Kavach (family cover) and Corona Rakshak (individual cover) policies. These two insurance schemes can be purchased along with your existing health plan as well to ensure sufficient coverage should there be any medical emergency.

The idea is to ensure that people can get the best possible treatment without worrying about the hospitalization cost, homecare treatment cost, and the charges of consumable items like a nebulizer, masks, ventilators, oximeters, etc. that pile up to the hospital bills for COVID treatment.

Buying Health Insurance for your Family during this Pandemic

Find out the suitable family health insurance plans that not only provide comprehensive coverage but also suit all your needs.

COVID Specific Health Plans

Corona Kavach policy is pocket-friendly health insurance providing COVID hospitalization cover, home treatment cover, and Ayush treatment cover to the insured and their family members who are covered under the policy.

You can consider buying Corona Kavach policy that has been launched during this pandemic, and people between the age group of 18 and 65 years and can get their family members covered such as parents, spouse, children, and in-laws covered.

You can opt for a coverage amount ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 Lakh and get compensation for hospitalization expenses as well as pre-and-post hospitalization, and home care treatment expenses. An optional cover of fixed benefit amount of 0.5 %of the sum insured for each day can be availed as daily cash cover. The policy can be purchased for a tenure of 3 ½, 6 ½, and 9 ½ months.

Family Floater Health Insurance Options

This would include your spouse, children and parents; also you can include your in-laws if they are critical and are dependent on you financially and for health care treatment. If you want to include other family members or extended family, then you can do that by paying some extra premium on the existing policy.

If you want to safeguard your loved ones, you can check out family health insurance plans online from different insurance companies and pick the best one for you.  These plans usually cover COVID-19 related hospitalization expenses (except for consumable items), but do check with your insurer for the details.

Simply put, if you have purchased a health insurance policy of Rs 20 Lakh per annum and 5 members are covered, then the entire members included can claim a total of Rs 20 Lakh. And if, one of them has claimed Rs 10 Lakh, then the rest four can claim from remaining Rs 10 Lakh.

Simply put,

It makes sense to get health insurance cover given the fact that medical treatment is getting costlier. If you are getting married or planning a kit, it might be a good idea to look at family health insurance products that offer higher sums insured and greater benefits, and help you keep the financial burden off during the current global pandemic situation.