People tend to visit the doctor’s office only when they fall sick, and the situation doesn’t improve by itself. This may cause the symptoms of chronic conditions to be ignored as they are seemingly simple, and you get better on your own. However, ignoring such symptoms can prevent you from getting the right care. Besides, some diseases, such as liver cirrhosis, don’t have any tell-tell signs. One of the best ways to prevent such conditions or diagnosing them early on is annual health check-ups.

A comprehensive annual medical check-up, such as the one offered in many health insurance plans can prove to be extremely beneficial in leading a healthy lifestyle over the long run.

Health check-ups are usually offered with health insurance plans as a preventative measure that a policyholder can avail of when they become eligible for this benefit. The medical check-up’s offered by insurance providers are comprehensive in nature and help evaluate the policyholder’s current health and complete body analyses, including assessment of organ health, heart health, and metabolism rate. The results of these tests are often used by doctors to recommend necessary changes or additions in the policyholder’s lifestyle to help them lead a healthy lifestyle and drive down healthcare cost.

In addition to keeping track of an individual’s overall health, annual health check-ups in health insurance help with early detection of diseases or illnesses. A majority of health insurance providers include a yearly health check-up in their insurance plans. This ensures that you can get full body check-ups without having to pay anything from your pocket. There are certain limitations in the full-body test package, but it is usually comprehensive and covers all the basic and crucial parameters of your health.

The process of availing these annual medical check-ups is fairly easy; you can simply go to any network hospital of your insurance provider or approach a hospital or diagnostic lab of your choice and raise a claim. The reimbursement process for the health check-up may vary from insurer to insurer; thus, read the policy documents carefully to avoid having your claim rejected. The permissible claim amount is usually a fraction of the Sum Insured with a predefined maximum limit.

Although the exact type of tests covered in your annual check-up can vary from one insurer to another, all health plans have some tests in common. Some of these tests are listed below:

• Complete blood count (CBC)

  This test covers parameters like the level of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelet, haemoglobin, and haematocrit. A CBC can provide crucial information about your overall health, and it is usually the first test suggested by doctors when they suspect you might have an infection or deficiency.

• HbA1c and random blood sugar test

  These are blood tests that can indicate your blood sugar levels on a random day (random blood sugar test) or your blood sugar levels for the past few months (HbA1c test). These are extremely helpful in diagnosing diabetes and pre-diabetes.

• Blood pressure test

  As the name suggests, this test measures your blood pressure levels and checks whether they are in healthy range or not.

• Lipid profile test

  Also known as the lipoprotein panel, this blood test measures the level of LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), and triglycerides. These values indicate the health of your cardiovascular system.

• Kidney function test (KFT)

  Used to assess the overall renal function, KFTs play a crucial role in diagnosing chronic kidney diseases and monitor the patient’s progress over time. A urine analysis is often a part of KFT, which measures the level of albumin in your urine and gauge how much kidney damage you might have (if any). Besides, it also includes a blood test to check for values like glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which is indicative of the quality of your kidneys’ filtration process.

• Liver function test (LFT)

  By measuring levels of proteins, enzymes, and other substances in your blood, LFTs can determine the health of your liver. LFT measures alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), bilirubin, albumin, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Diseases like liver cirrhosis can be diagnosed early with the help of regular LFTs only.

• Vitamin deficiency profile

  Many health insurance plans include blood tests to check for common vitamin deficiency, such as vitamin D.

• Pap smear test for women

  Getting a Pap smear test once every year is recommended for women so that diseases like HPV, chlamydia, and gonorrhoea can be detected.

• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG)

  Usually recommended to people over 35 years of age, an ECG plays a crucial role in evaluating an individual’s cardiac health.

Other tests that may be included in your free annual health check-up are ultrasound, X-ray, etc.

Not all insurance policies provide coverage for annual health check-ups. However, the coverage for health check-ups is stated in the policy documents and usually conveyed to all policyholders as a key benefit of the insurance plan. If you are unsure about the details of your insurance plan and want to know more about the annual medical check-ups, you can contact your insurance provider and gather the required knowledge or simply go through your policy documents.

Many health insurance plans have a preventative approach towards healthcare and offer a free medical check-up to policyholders who don’t raise claims for a certain period of time. Some insurance plans provide annual health check-ups for free once every 1, 3, or 4 years while others offer them every alternative year. Few insurance plans also provide medical guidance if your test reports are abnormal for free. Annual health check-up’s for employees are usually included in the corporate insurance policy. However, the specific benefits of each plan can vary.

With the SBI General Health Insurance Policy, you can earn a free annual health check-up for every 4 claim-free consecutive years. You can avail a free health check-up at one of the diagnostic centres in our network or get the bill of your test reimbursed up to a maximum of 1% of your Sum Insured with a maximum limit of ₹2500. This encourages the policyholders to follow a healthy lifestyle and keep a track of their health conditions and receive timely treatment if necessary.

Routine health check-ups can be extremely advantageous. Here are some of the benefits of annual health check-ups in health insurance:

• Early detection of diseases
• Monitoring overall health and well-being
• Motivates policyholders to lead a healthy lifestyle
• Reduced future healthcare costs
• Peace of mind
• Establish a baseline for different parameters

Routine Annual health check-ups are one of the best ways to stay on top of your health. By investing in a health insurance plan, you may be able to enjoy the numerous benefits of coverage for medical bills and free annual health check-ups. A health insurance with annual health check-up benefits, like SBI General Health Insurance, can help you detect diseases early on among other things.

There are definitive benefits of health insurance that you can enjoy if you invest in a health insurance plan appropriate for yourself and/or your family in a timely manner. Getting a health insurance plan early on when you are younger helps you pass the waiting period easily and get coverage for medical bills when it really matters.

FAQS

About Annual Health Check-ups in Health Insurance

What is an annual health check?

Annual health check-ups are routine medical checks that involves measuring a person’s different health parameters, such as blood pressure, levels of good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and levels of different proteins and vitamins in the body. You can get an annual health check as a part of your health insurance.

Annual health checks play an important role in monitoring the overall health of an individual over the years after establishing a baseline. It can provide you peace of mind and help with early detection of diseases.

Here is a list of tests that are usually a part of annual health checks:

• Complete blood count
• Blood sugar test
• Kidney function test
• Liver function test
• Lipid profile

No. Although many insurance providers require a comprehensive medical check-up to uncover any pre-existing diseases, some insurance providers don’t have this requirement.

Some insurance plans provide free medical check-ups after a few consecutive claim-free years, while others provide annual medical check-ups once a year for free as preventative measures. Check with your insurance provider or in your policy documents to know whether your insurance plan covers annual health check-up’s or not.

If your insurance provider covers annual medical checks as a part of the plan, you may be able to claim theses medical bills. However, there is usually a cap on the maximum claim amount. Besides, not all preventative medical tests are covered in an insurance plan.