A New Facade To Health

Revised health insurance caters the needs of the elderly group

- Anagh Pal

Dealing with a jump in the healthcare costs is one of the issues that proper financial planning can address. At 10-15 per cent, healthcare inflation is higher than normal inflation. Hence, one needs to plan ahead to be well-covered against inflation.

Fortunately, there are health insurance products for the same. If circumstances force you to go for surgery and hospitalization and you have proper health insurance cover, the policy will pay for your hospitalization bills, alleviating the uncontrollable stress.

However, there are chronic ailments that require sustained treatment over a period of time, which could be 10 years or more in some cases. Here, the stated case is of long-term healthcare. Sadly, India still does not have specific products to meet long-term healthcare needs. Acknowledging all these, how does one prepare oneself for such a stressful eventuality?

“People usually need long-term care when they have an ongoing, serious health condition or infirmity. The need for long-term care can arise unexpectedly, such as after a cardiac stroke,” explains Mayank Bathwal, CEO, Aditya Birla Health Insurance. However, he adds that in most cases it often develops gradually, as people get older or as an illness gets worse. Planning for the likelihood of long-term care gives you the required amount of time to learn about the services in your community and their costs. Alongside, it also gives you the time to make important decisions while you are still able.

“When we look at long term health care, there are three scenarios when we need to consider it”, Ashish Mehrotra, MD, and CEO, Max Bupa Health insurance elaborates.

The first scenario is when you have been through an ailment and need regular care, something like dialysis or oral chemotherapy that generally lasts for over many years or decades at a stretch.