Medical contingencies typically strike when you least expect them, and can leave you financially distressed. The only way to overcome these unforeseen situations and manage the inflating medical costs is to invest in a good health insurance plan. health-insurance is the shield that enables you to get the necessary medical treatment without worrying about the exorbitant costs. Your insurance policy gives you the freedom to seek good quality medical care without draining your hard-earned savings. Indeed, there are many reasons why health insurance is necessary. Let us assess them one by one.

Listed below are some vital reasons why medical insurance is important:

1. Increase in lifestyle-related diseases

   With our modern, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, and rising stress levels, our risks of contracting diseases have surged significantly. Conditions like diabetes, obesity, and heart conditions, which were earlier deemed age-related, have now become more common than ever. Health insurance provides the necessary financial support and access to healthcare services to address these conditions. It ensures that you can afford the medical treatments, medications, and assistance required to manage and prevent the progress of such diseases.

2. Inflating medical costs

   A crucial reason why mediclaim is important is that it helps manage the inflating medical costs. While medical technology is advancing with every passing year, the costs of accommodating and utilising the newer technologies are often transferred to patients. As such, a simple surgery that previously costed you ₹200,000 a few years ago, could now cost you ₹500,000. Likewise, the expenses associated with hospitalisation, diagnostic tests, doctor consultation fee, surgeon charges, etc., are also consistently increasing. Without health insurance, managing these inflating costs may be challenging.

3. Access to quality healthcare

   When you are diagnosed of an illness, you typically want to seek treatment from the best physicians. You may also want to seek admission in the best healthcare facilities. In the absence of health insurance, you may have to compromise with the quality of physicians and healthcare centres. Alternatively, you may choose to bear the treatment costs, but the out-of-pocket costs may be significantly high. However, your health insurance plan, particularly one with a high sum insured gives you the freedom to access the best quality healthcare solutions.

4. Family protection

   Another reason why health insurance is important is that it helps protect your family's well-being. Whether it is your ageing parents who are prone to contracting illnesses, your dependent children, or your spouse who needs protection from unforeseen health conditions, health insurance covers them all. You can opt for a family floater health insurance plan to manage the medical expenses of your entire family. With the financial security of health insurance, you stay prepared and for any medical emergency your family faces.

5. Management of Medical Emergencies

   While health insurance plays a pivotal role in helping you manage planned treatments, its role during medical emergencies is unparalleled to anything else. For instance, if a loved one has a sudden heart attack and needs emergency bypass surgery, the costs associated with the same can be high. In most cases, hospitals do not begin treatment until you deposit the sums. Coming up with a lumpsum amount during such, already testing times may be both stressful and difficult. But with health insurance, you can simply admit the patient in a network hospital where treatment can begin immediately.

6. Extensive Coverage

   A variety of healthcare services and treatments are included in the health insurance coverage. They include hospitalisation, doctor's consultation, medications, diagnostic tests, surgeries, and post-hospitalisation care. The sum insured required to cover these expenses is also generally substantial and depends on your age, healthcare conditions, and other personal factors. With the wide range of coverage and considerable sum insured amount, you can access healthcare services without bearing the hefty financial burden.

Benefits of health insurance

You stand to gain the following benefits when you invest in health insurance:

• Safeguards your savings

  Medical expenses can quickly deplete your savings if you are unprepared. The inflating cost of healthcare might also cause you to fall into a debt trap. With health insurance, you can safeguard your hard-earned savings while your insurer bears the medical costs. You do not have to worry about losing your corpus, accumulated over the years, over a sudden medical emergency. All you have to do is pay your annual premiums to get continuous, uninterrupted coverage.

• Multiple coverage options

  While buying health insurance, you have the flexibility to choose from different coverage options based on your needs and budget. For instance, insurers offer individual health plans, family floater plans, critical illness insurance plans, and various other products. You can also customise your policy with a range of additional riders providing all-encompassing coverage. You can check with your insurer for the available coverage options and find a plan that best suits your needs.

• No claim bonus (NCB)

  Investing in health insurance translates to significant savings. It helps keep your funds intact during medical emergencies. Plus, you can enhance your sum insured at no extra costs with the No Claims Bonus (NCB) Benefit. With the NCB Benefit, the insurer increases your policy’s sum insured by a fixed percentage for every consecutive claim-free year, during the first five years. The maximum NCB benefit you can enjoy is 50% enhanced sum insured over five continuous claim-free years.

• Cashless claim facility

  Insurers understand the stress that goes with a medical diagnosis. To help you relieve your stress, they offer a cashless claim-settlement facility through their network hospitals. You simply need to seek admission in one of the network hospitals and provide your health card/ policy information. The hospital staff the contacts the insurer’s representative. Together, the duo manage the expenses and other formalities, while you can concentrate on seeking the necessary treatment. This arrangement saves you from arranging funds for treatment, nor do you have to file a reimbursement claim later.

• Tax exemption

  To encourage investment in health insurance, the Indian government offers tax rebates on health insurance premiums under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. Thus, you can claim deductions of up to ₹25,000 for investing in health insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your children. Plus, you can claim another ₹25,000 and ₹50,000 in tax rebates upon purchasing policies for your parents under and over the age of 60 years, respectively. Moreover, if you are a senior citizen buying health insurance for your senior citizen parents, you can enjoy annual tax benefits of up to ₹1 lakh.

Tackle hefty medical expenses with health insurance

The above-mentioned reasons and benefits highlight why health insurance is necessary. With health insurance, you can prioritise your and your family’s well-being, and get the necessary coverage to manage medical costs effortlessly. This investment assures peace of mind and lets you combat medical expenses head-on. So, secure yourself and your family with a health insurance plan from SBI General to deal with medical uncertainties that may crop up anytime.

Yes, you need health insurance irrespective of your age and health condition. This is because you cannot predict when your health may take a turn for the worse. Plus, buying health insurance when you are young allows you to enjoy coverage at lower premiums and leverage the NCB benefit.

Typically, medical insurance covers pre-existing illnesses after you ride out the waiting period. The waiting period can range from two to four years. You must check the clauses specifying the terms related to pre-existing illnesses before buying your health insurance plan.

Yes, you can buy more than one health insurance plans, especially if you have specific healthcare needs that are not covered under a plan or if you have a family insurance plan and want an individual coverage plan. However, you cannot claim the same medical expenses from different policies.

You may or may not always need to undergo a health check-up before buying medical insurance. Whether this is required or not depends on the insurer and your personal factors like your age, medical history, etc.

Health insurance providers typically do not cover the costs associated with outpatient treatments, adventure sports-related surgeries, cosmetic treatments, rehabilitation and respite care, etc.