Medical insurance is not widely understood in India. It is broadly believed that medical insurance policies cover expenses incurred only on hospitalization charges not all health expenses.
Mediclaim policies are designed to offer financial security at the time of a medical emergency. Most health insurance policies cover hospitalization expenses, pre hospitalization expense and post hospitalization expenses
When a person is hospitalized there are various tests and procedures that are performed to understand the cause of the ailment, similarly there are many medicines and tests that need to be conducted regularly to monitor the improvement of the patient’s conditions. All these expenses are health expenses and are generally covered by most health insurance providers.
Most individuals are not aware about these useful features of this policy.
Pre Hospitalization expenses:
Pre hospitalization expenses are expenses that are incurred for health examinations and tests prior to the hospitalization. The consulting doctor generally performs as a series of test to understand the patient’s health condition before starting the treatment. Pre hospitalization expenses are all the expenses that are incurred before you were hospitalized.
It is important to understand that the ailment for which you are hospitalized is payable, you can claim the pre hospitalization expenses also. The number of days covered for pre hospitalized expenses depends upon the health insurance providers. Generally, all expense incurred 30 days prior to the admission to the hospital is covered.
For instance: Diagnostic tests like X ray, sonography, blood test, urine test etc.
Post Hospitalization expense:
Post Hospitalization expenses cover all the medical expenses that are incurred after the hospitalization. The consulting doctor advices medicines and regular tests that the patients needs to conduct to determine the recovery progress.
The number of days covered for post hospitalized expenses depends upon the health insurance providers. Generally, all expenses incurred up to 60 days from the date of discharge are covered by the health insurance company.
Health insurance policies cover expenses incurred on medicines, consulting fees and diagnostic charges as prescribed by the doctor. However post hospitalization expenses do not include expenses incurred on alternative therapies such as acupressure, acupuncture, naturopathy etc.
Pre hospitalization and post hospitalization expenses can be claimed by submitting original bills and receipts along with the copy of the discharge summary and the doctor’s certificate.
It is important to have complete knowledge about the inclusions in the health insurance policy to derive utmost benefits.
