Cashless Health Insurance
In order to live a truly healthy and stress-free life, it is vital that individuals have a good health insurance policy for themselves and their families to protect against any unexpected diseases or medical conditions. As the cost of healthcare has risen significantly over the past few years in India, having health cover has become all the more important. However, some people are still hesitant about buying health insurance due to a lack of awareness or fear that their claims won't be paid out even after purchasing an expensive health insurance plan.
However, the cashless health insurance plans offered by insurance companies can help alleviate these fears. Cashless health insurance is a type of health insurance where you (as the policyholder or the insured) can directly visit a network hospital affiliated with your insurance company to seek treatment for any health conditions or medical emergencies. The most attractive feature of this policy is that you do not have to pay any bills at the network hospital out of pocket as long as the treatment cost is under the maximum sum insured. Your insurance provider will directly pay the medical bills to the hospital. You will also not have to worry about arranging large amounts of emergency funds for treatment with cashless medical insurance. Let's take a look at how a cashless claim works:
How to Avail Cashless Benefit from Your Health Insurance
Here are the exact steps you can follow to avail the cashless benefit from your health insurance policy:
- In case of a medical emergency or health situation, visit your hospital which is under your insurance provider's network.
- At the network hospital, provide all your insurance details and paperwork to the insurance representative present there.
- Once the insurance representative verifies your insurance details, the hospital will admit you in as the patient and treatment will commence.
- After the treatment is complete, your insurance provider will directly pay the network hospital for the treatment costs.
Note: If the cost of treatment at the hospital goes past the maximum sum insured offered by your insurer, you will have to bear the cost of remaining medical and hospital expenses out of pocket.
Important Aspects of Cashless Health Insurance You Should Know
- The cashless health insurance facility will only be available at the specific network hospitals which are affiliated with your insurance provider.
- Most cashless health insurance plans only provide coverage for hospitalisation expenses, all other expenses will have to be paid by the policyholder.
- Any 'exclusions' mentioned under your health insurance policy will not be covered by the cashless benefit, so it's extremely important to read the policy documents carefully.
- There are two ways to make a cashless claim - a planned cashless claim and an emergency cashless claim.
Benefits of Cashless Claim in Health Insurance
The following are the main benefits of choosing a health insurance policy with a cashless claim benefit:
- You can get access to the highest level of medical treatment, as the hospitals which are under an insurer's network are thoroughly vetted and inspected. Only the best hospitals with high treatment standards are admitted as network hospitals.
- You do not have to worry about arranging large amounts of cash instantly to pay off the hospital bills for the medical treatment.
- Most reputed insurers have thousands of network hospitals across the country, so you can find one close to your location instantly in case of an emergency.
To Conclude
Most insurers these days offer the cashless claim option to the policyholders and it has become a standard practice in the insurance industry. More importantly, when you are visiting a network hospital to seek medical treatment to avoid health risks you have to ensure that all of your insurance paperwork and required documents are in order so that your cashless claim is not rejected. Even if the cashless claim request does not go through, you can get treatment and then apply for a reimbursement claim.
