Health Insurance - Ask me

[Haste]

Hi Guys,

I need to purchase health insurance, not for me but for parents who are in 55-60 Age category. They don't have any major disease yet, so medical test insn't a problem.

Can anybody give me pointers on what all things to look for before purchasing a policy, as I'm complete n00b in such things.
Also if people can reccommend any specific company/plans, it wud be great

Regards,

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Haste

Hi Guys,

I need to purchase health insurance, not for me but for parents who are in 55-60 Age category.

I suppose you already have a plan for yourself, (not counting the one provided by Employer) ?
If you don't, you need to get yourself insured first. Illness/accidents don't knock the doors before striking. You can have a family floater plan which covers you and your family members under single premium.
National insurance provides some. Stay away from ICICILombard.

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Stay away from ICICILombard.

Why??? Very recently (5 days back), a friend was diagnosed with yellow fever (he came back from Uganda a fortnight ago) and was in ICU for 4 days. He has a policy from ICICI Lombard, administered by TTK; he had misplaced the policy papers and TTK cards.

I called up ICICI Lombard, tell them his name, they game me his policy number and TTK ID. I applied for cashless insurance (2 days after he was admitted and we have already deposited 40K) with these numbers and a copy of his voter ID card. The approval process was super smooth, at the time of his discharge, all expenses of 66K were approved, the hospital returned the 40K deposited by us through a cheque. All in all a very pleasing experience.

P.S. Beginning this financial year, there is an additional IT rebate on premium paid for parent's medical insurance, this is over and above the premium paid on your immediate family's medical insurance.

Cheers

Nitin

[rrs1951]

Myexperience with ICICI Lombard is rather bad. Although I have never had to put in any claims so far (by the grace of God), I have been finding many errors in the policy - spelling of names, date of birth and so on; and getting them corrected has been a big hassle.

[Haste]

Originally Posted by ntomer

Why??? Very recently (5 days back), a friend was diagnosed with yellow fever (he came back from Uganda a fortnight ago) and was in ICU for 4 days. He has a policy from ICICI Lombard, administered by TTK; he had misplaced the policy papers and TTK cards.

I called up ICICI Lombard, tell them his name, they game me his policy number and TTK ID. I applied for cashless insurance (2 days after he was admitted and we have already deposited 40K) with these numbers and a copy of his voter ID card. The approval process was super smooth, at the time of his discharge, all expenses of 66K were approved, the hospital returned the 40K deposited by us through a cheque. All in all a very pleasing experience.

P.S. Beginning this financial year, there is an additional IT rebate on premium paid for parent's medical insurance, this is over and above the premium paid on your immediate family's medical insurance.

Cheers

Nitin

ICICI nowadays have stopped their TPA work with TTK and now have their own TPA iHealthCare and people have not nice things to say about them, I've also have heard (maybe ur friend purchased policy earlier that's why he's still dealing with TTK luckily)

Yes, I do have insurance cover from employer that's why i'm not lookin for same...
National Insurance is govt. one i believe....Are govt insurers good enough nowadays, i mean is the claim re-imbursement process with them smooth?

[deetee]

Me too looking for a health (medical) insurance for my mother aged 52yrs.I talked to Bajaj allianz and reliance. Bajaj's premium seems to be the highest and reliance the cheapest. Besides I repeatedly calling up their customer care, despite thier repeated assurances to send an executive , no one ever approached me from thier office.
Please suggest me other alternatives.Star health is rather new player, I don't think they are reliable yet.For that matter I doubt the cheap premiums of reliance too.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

I am also looking for health insurance for me,family and parents.
I am not looking other options than New India Assurance good health policy.
Any suggestions for this policy? please.

[Haste]

Originally Posted by deetee

Me too looking for a health (medical) insurance for my mother aged 52yrs.I talked to Bajaj allianz and reliance. Bajaj's premium seems to be the highest and reliance the cheapest. Besides I repeatedly calling up their customer care, despite thier repeated assurances to send an executive , no one ever approached me from thier office.
Please suggest me other alternatives.Star health is rather new player, I don't think they are reliable yet.For that matter I doubt the cheap premiums of reliance too.

I also haven't heard good feedback about bajaj allianz....yes reliance comes out pretty cheap, but as always with reliance there could be catches with thier policies...
Also can anybody share their experiences with govt. based insurer?

[MalluDude]

My company has TTK healthcare plans for all it's employees. TTK works in a tie-up with National Insurance.

While my company pays my premium, I have to pay aditional for my parents. Its cashless faclilty is very handy, and I have availed it two times.

I am not aware if this policy could be taken for non-corporate customers. You could maybe get in touch with TTK or National Insurance.

Try mailing them: care@ttkhealthcareservices.com

[isldhn]

Guy's try Royal Sundaram Health shield. I've got this done for my family. I think it's the only insurance that covers the maternity costs too(upto a max.limit of Rs.20000/-).I've already availed one maternity claim benefit and now it's time for the second one soon.

P.S.- It's a bit on the expensive side but as the saying goes' Jitna meetha daloge,utna hi halwa meetha hoga'

[benkey2]

well there is one article in TOI chennai edition (dated 4-3-9). though nothing new but just few points from consumer activist

Mediclaim insurance: Safeguard or trap?

The experience of being denied mediclaim insurance after spending a huge amount on medical treatment can be bitter. If one reads the list of diseases that are not covered and diseases which are excluded from coverage — yes, there are two such lists in some companies — one will be in the depths of despair as most of the common diseases are exempted. If one makes a claim for a disease outside the two lists, the usual reason for rejection is that the claimant had a pre-existing disease and that he had suppressed the information. You feel checkmated. But not any longer.
Take a look at this case, for instance. Mr Damani took a medical claim insurance policy cover for Rs 3,50,000 from 09-06-2000 to 08-06-2001 and paid a premium of Rs 5,174. He was subjected to complete medical examination by the doctor of the insurance company. Six months later, he developed chest pain and underwent an angiography, which revealed three blocks in his vessels. His claim for Rs 26,741 was rejected by the insurance company on the ground that he had suppressed information of a pre-existing disease. The district forum and the state commission justified the rejection of the insurance company citing the exclusion clause: “If the symptoms of the disease existed at the time of taking the policy and even if the insured person was not aware of the existence of the symptoms, the insurance company was not liable to pay any claims .”
The national commission, however, did not accept this. It said that if the interpretation of the exclusion clause was to be accepted, the insurance company would not be liable to pay any claims whatsoever, because most people suffer from symptoms of diseases without knowledge of the same. It noted that “this policy is not a policy at all as it is just a contract entered only for the purpose of accepting the premium without the bona fide intention of giving any benefit to the insured under the garb of pre-existing disease. Most of the people are totally unaware of the symptoms of the disease... But common people do not have medical knowledge and cannot diagnose their own diseases. If they were expected to be so aware of their medical condition at all times, there would be no use of insurance policies. Since he was found to be hale and hearty at the time of medical examination by the insurance company’s doctor and since he had no symptoms like chest pain before taking the policy, the question of linking the symptom with the disease does not arise.” The insurance company was asked to pay up. This was a landmark judgment delivered on October 3, 2006.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) stipulates that the insurer or intermediary shall provide all important material or information to the consumer to enable the consumer to decide on the best cover that suits his interest. Such advice must be given dispassionately. The regulations further mandates that the “exclusion clause” must be explained to the consumer before issuing the insurance and, if the company does not explain, it cannot claim the benefits of the exclusion clause. The IRDA has a grievance cell too (irda@irda.gov.in). There is an ombudsman for insurance who can be reached at insombud@md4.vsnl.net.in. Since this has not been very effective, cases pile up before consumer fora.
Very often, the cover note is passed off as a policy document. The consumer must insist on a policy document which has terms and conditions printed in detail. Ask the agent of the insurer to write down what is included in the coverage and then decide on insurance. The consumer must pay the premium on time and disclose all facts before taking insurance. The “no medical check” offer is not an advantage but a trap. Consumers must insist that the insurance company’s doctor conducts all the tests on the consumer and records his findings in the proposal form. This will help you if the company tries to reject your claim on the basis of “suppressed information”.
(The writer (S PUSHPAVANAM) is secretary of Consumer Protection Council of Tamil Nadu, Tiruchi and can be contacted at consumerpc@rediffmail.com)

[rjvora_2000]

Hi friend's,

If you want to ask anything related to health insurance (Popularly known as Medi-claim) please ask me in this trend. there are basic things which you should have like insurance company name, product name, last date of payment etc.

Health insurance is a too big subject to cover so please forgive me if i have a limited answer's but still i will try and find out information for you.

If you think you have some information on some product then please give the knowledge to me also i will be happy to receive that also.

[rudrah]

Thanks for opening this thread. I'm sure this would be so much valuable to tons out here!

I currently do not have a health insurance. I've a family of total 5 including 1yr daughter. Parents are above 60.

I'm planning to take a Term insurance next month. There is no Med-claim in my company. Should I opt for a health insurance too? If so what should be the ideal coverage and which insurance brands i can opt for? Also benifts and disadvantages if any...

Thanks..

[LastActionHero]

Hi..Thanks for opening this thread. I'm planning to take a family floater plan for me and my spouse. I also want pregnancy and critical illnesses to be covered.

Any suggestions on what I should look out for in the policy? I also want to know your opinion on Reliance Health insurance schemes as they seem cheapest in the market right now.

[rjvora_2000]

Originally Posted by rudrah

Thanks for opening this thread. I'm sure this would be so much valuable to tons out here!

I currently do not have a health insurance. I've a family of total 5 including 1yr daughter. Parents are above 60.

I'm planning to take a Term insurance next month. There is no Med-claim in my company. Should I opt for a health insurance too? If so what should be the ideal coverage and which insurance brands i can opt for? Also benifts and disadvantages if any...

Thanks..

There are lot of insurance company in the market which will offer you health insurance policy for you and your family including your parents. Normally after age 45 medical health checkup is mandatory from insurance companies.

For coverage I would ask you that how much you want to spend per year? you can choose the sum insured accordingly.