(To Help Meet Cost of Medical Evacuation)
“I don’t have Health Insurance, but I do have Car Insurance, so whenever I fell sick I go crash my car into a tree.”
The above quote amply signify the importance of an insurance policy. With the materialistic society we live in, it is all the more important that the consumer should have adequate insurance to cover the losses.
The Insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss.
“It’s an arrangement by which a company or the state undertakes to provide a guarantee of compensation for specified loss, damage, illness, or death in return for payment of a specified premium”. (Source Wikipedia)
Health Insurance, Vehicle Insurance, Home Insurance, Life Insurance, Disability Insurance are few of the insurance which generally the middle class Indian come across, when looking for choices. The oldest among them is the Life Insurance (LICI) which was a preferred choice of investment with the 60’s to 90’s generation. With different choices now available as better means of investment and with better percentage of returns, the 20’s generation has started taking an insurance as an insurance and not as an investment. The latest among them is Travel Insurance.
The Right Insurance
For a new vehicle, as regard the Motor vehicle insurance, the general trend is to have for the first two to three years a First Party, Bumper to Bumper Insurance. But post that the owner usually goes for the cheapest third party insurance as it is statutory requirement for every motor vehicle owner to have a motor insurance policy. Though however, the same does not hold true in the case of a Health Insurance. Here the policy owner cautiously goes through the fine print to get the best coverage at the lowest price. Though here too price definitely plays a major role in finalizing the policy, but the more important factor is the coverage it offers to the insured. Life Insurance has mostly been a means of Tax saving and a form of stable and relatively risk free saving scheme for the middle class educated Indian. Though the same has changed in the present day scenario of Mutual funds, SIP and other better saving options available in the market with the onset of private banks and other dedicated financial institute, in Indian financial sector. The Home Insurance and the disability Insurance are still the prerogative of the special few. They are in a little niche sector.
Medical Insurance
Present day lifestyle has provided the society comfort like never before. The sedentary life style brought with it various life style diseases which were once restricted to select few. With the rising medical cost, it has become almost mandatory for every individual to adopt a proper Health Insurance policy. During a medical emergency a person and his family are not only strained physically, but also financially and emotionally. Hence it is important that a proper Medical policy which caters to all the requirements is purchased at the earliest possible.
Requirements to be considered
- A floating family group policy or an individual policy.
- Stick to only the corporate policy of one’s organisation, or to have an individual medical policy or to have both.
- Policy should cover the individual’s family history of any medical issue.
- If the individual is a high flying, travelling executive then to ensure emergency medical evacuation and best medical treatment around the globe.
- Whether the policy covers other medical requirements like Child birth, routine medical checkups, OPD and other medical requirements, too.
So to conclude, we can comfortably say that once we have an Insurance policy, we can proudly proclaim……
“I am not Perfect, just Insured”.