Importance Of Critical Illness Health Insurance Plan During Covid-19 Pandemic

Covid-19 pandemic has brought the focus on buying adequate health insurance coverage for self and family. While the hospitalization costs are running into a few lakhs of rupees, the post recovery process is also showing matters of concern.

- Avinash Kumar Singh

There have been post-treatment complications witnessed in several patients who had contracted Coronavirus. The impact on other body organs may also occur. Thus, merely buying a health cover may not be sufficient. What one needs is a Critical Illness health insurance plan in addition to a Mediclaim policy.

Lifestyle diseases are also on the rise and many of us are falling prey to it. Following a healthy diet with a wellness programme and an exercise regime could keep many of such unwanted ailments at bay. Sometimes hereditary, but mostly with age, the chance of having a life-threatening lifestyle disease is financially a drain on the family.

Of late, more and more people have started leading a healthy lifestyle backing it up with wellness programmes. This certainly helps but does not remove the risk of being hospitalised due to unforeseen events. The cost of hospitalisation, especially in urban locations, is increasing at a fast rate. According to a few studies done in the past, medical inflation in India is around 17 per cent annually, much above the general inflation level. The need for adequate health cover is increasingly becoming critical and consequently choosing the right health insurance plan has become very important.

Let’s look at a few important features that could help you make a more informed decision.

If you already hold a health plan (mediclaim or family floater), maybe it’s time to consider creating a second guard of defense through Critical Illness (CI) plan especially, if approaching age 40.