It’s time to get health insurance.
When Mrs. Batra found out that her daughter was suffering from a severe health issue, she was devastated. At a young age of 7 years, Shalini was diagnosed with heart disease. With Mrs. Batra’s husband’s limited salary, life could have been bleak emotionally and financially if Shalini had not been insured.
Healthcare plus Insurance plan helped Mrs. Batra’s family meet hospitalization expenses including diagnostic tests and doctor’s fees. Mrs. Batra didn’t have to take up a full-time job and instead was able to spend time lovingly with her daughter till she fully recovered and went back to school.
Hospitalization
Sickness and accidents do not come announced. They hit hard, and they ran fast as it did for Mrs. Batra and her family. If not insured, people have to take personal loans with astronomical interest rates, borrow money from family and friends and some even face bankruptcy. The average hospitalization cost in urban India has jumped by a staggering 10.7% CAGR from Rs. 8,851 in 2004 to Rs. 24,436 in 2014.
Like everything else, medical expenses are on the rise. The reason behind a surge in healthcare cost in the past ten years can be attributed to multiple factors given below.
- Healthcare providers in India are expected to spend USD 1.08 billion on IT products, which will, in turn, reflect health care costs.
- Shortage of trained healthcare staff. India has just one doctor for every 1,700 people.
- The advent of specialty drugs.
- The increasing investments in super-specialty equipment and robotics.
- Growing demand for high-quality and specialty healthcare services in tier-2 and tie-3 cities
Indian healthcare system
While technology and high-quality medication are enhancing the Indian healthcare system, at the same time it is also increasing the common man’s expenses. The call of the hour is to take that first step and invest in regular health insurance. Do not wait! The younger you are the better, as the premium per annum is lesser for a healthier younger person than a middle-aged or older citizen.
Without the doubt, my recommendation would be, get yourself and your family health insurance now. I recommend checking ICICI Lombard website to read about and understand the policies they offer, some of them including hospitalization cover, daycare surgeries/treatments cover, pre and post hospitalization expenses and domestic road emergency. You can just choose a plan, premium, and coverage for your convenience. No one can predict what will happen in the next hour.
A very informative post. Health care is indeed a must. Most of the corporate employees have a health care plan with their employers, but in my opinion, considering the rising costs of medicare, a private plan never hurts. As you rightly explained, misfortunes aren’t planned.
Will check out ICICI. Till now all health insurance was only for hospitalisation. Which left out a lot.