Can Health Insurance Save you From Cancer Expenses?

As treatment starts from day one and as it continues with actual treatment and post-recovery measures, the expenses jump to lakhs of rupees. For mediocre families, this sum is a massive hole in their pockets, and without contingency funds, things get to worsen with passing of each day.

However, if the medical insurance plans cover these treatments along with pre-hospitalization as well as post-hospitalization expenses, it will be a better aspect for these mediocre families struggling with everyday expenses.

What are the Covered Cancer Expenses?

Here are the details of cancer expense given for one to understand what these policies cover.

Pre-Hospitalization Expenses

Detection of cancer is possible upon pre-hospitalization tests, which involves- biopsy, X-Rays, blood tests, mammograms, and many others. Based on these reports, the doctor recommends hospitalization. One’s health plan covers all of these expenses, which fall under the category of pre-hospitalization. Insurers can claim for all of these pre-hospitalization expenses. The duration of these expenses varies from plan to plan and generally ranges from thirty to sixty days before hospitalization, depending on the insurance policy itself.

Hospitalization of the Patient

This part deals with the incurrence of the actual expense while hospitalizing a patient. This includes-room rent, fees of the doctor, costs incurred during surgery, charges of a nurse. If the patient is in the ICU an additional expenses incurred to that are all covered. The insurance company itself will bear all these expenses.

Post-Hospitalization Expenses

The medical insurance plan covers costs that happen even after the discharge of the patient from the hospital. These include the following- charges of doctor's consultations, medicines, and injections, which are given post hospitalizations, investigative reports that help in monitoring the progress of cancer, etc. Depending on whatever plan one has for oneself, the expenses totaled for monitoring as well as recovery are provided for the period from sixty to ninety days.

Day-Care Treatment for the Disease

Good Insurance plans give excellent day-care coverages where patients are not required to get hospitalized for more than twenty-four hours a day. Therefore the health insurance plans also provide a session of chemotherapy or radiation.

Types of Cancer Covered by a Cancer Insurance Plan

Breast Cancer
Lung Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Stomach Cancer
Prostate Cancer
Hypolarnyx Cancer

What are the Benefits of Cancer Insurance Plan?

Cancer Insurance covers certain benefits that every person should know well before investing in this critical illness cover:
This insurance policy will cover a variety of stages of cancer.
The payment of a lump sum amount on diagnosing a patient with this disease.
Early-stage of cancer allows premium to be waived off.
If you do not claim anything for the whole year, the assured amount will increase by a certain amount of percentage.
Premium discounts are also available for policies above a certain amount.
Your insurance amount will not cease even after there is an initial diagnosis.
One gets enormous tax deductions under section 80D of the Income Tax Act.

Need for a Cancer Insurance Policy

Cancer, being a vital disease, affects lives emotionally as well as financially, and requires insurance plans which can cover up certain expenses. The description of the need here is as follows:

Cancer insurance is needed to be considered seriously in case:

If you are working in specific areas prone to this disease and if you think that environmentally you might get affected.
There are no proper savings you have made to pay for your critical illness cover.
The regular health insurance coverage doesn’t pay you enough to cover significant diseases like this.
When you are the only earning member of the family, it is a huge responsibility to keep your family on the better and safe side.
There are specific exclusions of cancer as well which also one has to know well. They include:

Types of skin cancer

Types of cancer caused directly or indirectly through sexually transmitted diseases like-HIV or AIDS.
Cancer that happens from any congenital kind of condition
Any pre-existing condition,
Any contamination related to biologically, chemically
Any contact with radioactivity from any non-diagnostic place.

Before Purchasing Cancer Insurance Plans

People with a family history of cancer need to reconsider their health insurance plan. It is better to go and get regular check-ups done for you and your family before anything wrong occurs. It is right to mention that cancer insurance is only covered when there is cancer diagnosed and for no other chronic disease.

You might have two critical illness cover plans-one is a standard health insurance policy, and the other one is a cancer insurance policy. But it doesn’t mean that there is any double benefit for any. You have to research on what the plans cover separately because most of the insurance policies mention coordination of benefits clause. This clause states that a specific plan will not cover the expense that the other one does.

Summing it Up!

It is necessary to purchase the insurance from reliable sources only since they will be able to explain any hidden cost or rules and regulations incurred in it. It is better to research thoroughly before investing any hard-earned money. Also, the doctor recommends people to get regular check-ups done before investing in any plan. These regular check-ups will bring out any hidden disease that you might have inherited from your family. Visiting a doctor at the crucial and final stage of this deadly disease will only bring loss of emotional as well as financial stages of one’s life.