This monsoon, arm yourself with dengue protection cover

The seasonal monsoon rains bring in a sigh of relief after the blazing, summer sun. It also brings us good memories, like getting drenched in the rains, a sip on that quintessential cup of tea, smiles and laughter. However, monsoon rains also does bring in a worry, with the collecting of rain water in puddles, nooks and creeks, coupled with the increased humidity in the air, this season is most-conducive for breeding of disease-spreading mosquitoes, including the menace of dengue.

Five decades ago, dengue fever was known to just about a handful of nations. Today it is a deadly endemic that has enveloped more than 120 countries. In 2016, there was an abnormal surge in dengue inflicting around 130,000 people pan India and the numbers this year are already touching 30,000.

Alarmingly, the unreported dengue numbers run in millions, inflicting an economic burden of a whopping $1.11 billion on India in a year. The detection of dengue itself involves multiple rounds of expensive blood tests and the overall treatment, including medication and injections, and it is a costly affair. With this kind of an increase in dengue cases, there is a pressing need for an exclusive dengue-health cover that insures people against the odds of this disease.

We have all been taught that the best way to avoid any disease is to keep our surroundings clean and place mosquito nets wherever required. Nevertheless, one should always have an insurance policy that acts as a monetary safety net when disease strikes. Hence, purchasing a dengue care policy this monsoon that protects you and your family’s health, and ranges from in-patient hospitalisation, pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation, would be a prudent decision.

One should reminisce that indemnity based health insurance policies largely cover medical expenses incurred through the inpatient treatment. The out-patient treatment, home-care and diagnostic expenses for dengue are not covered by any health insurance policy.

Hence, look for a dengue care policy that covers expenses incurred under inpatient and outpatient treatment expenses, including diagnostic tests, consultation expenses, home nursing and pharmacy; and also cover for non-medical expenses such as option of shared accommodation during hospitalization. A customer should look at the following benefits when purchasing a dengue care policy.

• Affordability– It should be ‘value for money’ health insurance policy that is focused on dengue treatment and covers both hospitalization and outpatient treatment. Dengue care policy must be available at a very affordable one-time premium, bwhich provides higher inpatient and OPD monetary benefits.
• OPD Coverage – The indemnity policy must provide coverage for diagnostic tests, consultation, home nursing and pharmacy as in most of the cases, dengue needs to be treated at home only.
• Uncomplicated buying process –A dengue care policy must be uncomplicated health insurance product to buy, the customer should paya single premium, no matter what age he/she is for a year’s cover. The policy should not entail complex underwriting, with no prerequisite for any medical tests.
• Low waiting period–The policy should come with a very low waiting period for a retail policy, say,15 days in comparison to most other indemnity policies.
• No rejection – A dengue care policy must be available to all categories of people, including those who have been rejected for normal health insurance policies.
• Coverage for non-medical expenses–The policy should cover for non-medical expenses, includes options for shared accommodation during hospitalization.

The author is the CEO for Apollo Munich Health Insurance

By Antony Jacob