Health cover for women a basic need these days

Taking care of their mother’s health is a responsibility of every child. This Mother’s Day (May 8), let us make her feel more special by gifting her a health insurance policy and secure her health, as they are the ones who foster a healthy lifestyle and take care of everyone in the family. However while they are constantly engaged with various activities at both household and professional front in the process they tend to ignore their health. What most women don’t realise is that they will be able to take care of their family only if they are hale and hearty.
It is also imperative to understand the need for health insurance which can save women from huge financial crisis in time of a medical emergency. Once a major illness is diagnosed, it not only damages our health but also has the potential to damage our entire life. The cost of hospitalisation and speciality medical treatments are so expensive today, it is almost impossible to bear that cost by self without necessary support from insurance.
Health insurance is beneficial to all age groups. Young girls can opt for health insurance for their parents and themselves, married women can opt for themselves and their extended family and so on.
Health insurance is a broad concept that provides protection against medical uncertainties and the costs involved. There are various products available in the market and the extent of cover, benefits etc. varies between products. There are women specific products in the market that caters only to women specific needs and critical illnesses however there is no special premium pricing for those products available at this moment. Though not all companies offer women specific products but companies have policies that provide extra benefits like maternal benefits, child’s care and also there are products catering to various age groups and life stages of a woman. Although the benefits from each and every product available in the market differs from policy to policy, few of the common one’s are cashless hospitalisation at any of the insurance company’s network of hospitals, pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses, cost of health check-up at authorised centres, tax benefits under section 80D, etc.
The medical expenses to be borne by single-married woman is very expensive. If they happen to face any critical illness in the family, which requires huge investment for treatment and care, a comprehensive health care product and a critical illness product provide the required financial support to them.
Newly-wedded women can opt for such a product which can help her avail the maternity benefit when they start family planning. The couple can avail the maternity benefit with only two years of waiting period.
If a woman is staying in a joint family, there are options available in the market that cover as many as 15 people in one policy like self, spouse, dependent (unmarried and up to the age of 25 years) or non dependent children, dependent or non - dependent parents, dependent siblings, daughter-in-law, son-in- law, parents-in-law, grandparents and grandchildren (maximum up to 15 members).
Senior women citizens can avail the benefits of a health insurance at time of hospitalisation when they are diagnosed with any illness. Post-hospitalisation services like nursing are also provided to them and these become beneficial at times when there is no one to take care at home. In some policies, there is no age restriction to enter a new policy, the benefits to various individual may change from policy to policy.
The premium of health insurance policies varies depending upon the type of product, plan, extent of coverage as well as sum insured and age of the persons being covered.

Shreeraj Deshpande
(The author is Head - Health Insurance at Future Generali India)