Today, stressful living has impacted health and wellness. As a result, there is an increase in lifestyle-related ailments like hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. These illnesses require treatments over the long-term at ever-increasing medical costs. The best way to manage such expenses is to opt for a health insurance plan.

These plans provide financial assistance to cover hospitalization expenses and other treatment-related costs. A regular health insurance policy may not cover certain ailments, and you may require a comprehensive policy, which takes care of:

1. Hospitalization expenses

These types of health insurance plans pay for in-patient hospitalization care. They cover costs, such as doctors’ and nursing fees, medical procedures, and medication-related expenses.

2. Pre– and post-hospitalization costs

In case you need to undergo any diagnostic tests and check-ups before hospitalization, a comprehensive medical insurance policy will pay for these. Additionally, such a plan covers costs related to follow-ups and medicines required after discharge.

3. Day-care procedures

Some treatments may not require hospitalization exceeding 24 hours. Most of the comprehensive plans pay for such day-care procedures.

4. Other facilities

These health insurance policies also take care of the ambulance charges that you incur to reach the hospital during an emergency. Additionally, they cover daily cash benefits to meet travel and food costs for your family during your hospitalization.

When you seek treatment from a network hospital, you can avail of cashless health insurance coverage. This means you do not have to worry about paying for the hospital expenses and can focus on seeking the best treatment.

How to optimize the health insurance plan’s offerings

Although the premium for a comprehensive health policy is higher, you can maximize the benefits available under this plan in different ways. Here are three such options:

1. No-ClaimBonus (NCB)

Insurers offer NCB for every year in which you do not make a claim under your policy. This is beneficial in reducing the health insurance renewal premium payable, making it more affordable to get complete coverage.

2. Health check–ups

Several insurance companies offer free annual medical check-ups to enable you to stay healthy and prevent chronic ailments. It is beneficial in detecting health problems at an early stage, which plays an important role in procuring effective treatments in a timely manner.

3. Health returns

Staying fit and maintaining good health can be difficult due to your hectic schedule and erratic lifestyle. To encourage you to be active and exercise regularly, some insurers offer health returns. These monetary rewards accumulate over a period, and you may redeem them towards medicines, diagnostic tests, or meeting other medical emergencies and also earn upto 30% discounts on health insurance.

4. Affordable premiums on riders

When you include certain riders like personal accident insurance or crticial illness plan to your mediclaim policy, you may have to pay a lower premium as compared to a standalone insurance plan. You must check this before making a decision.

When looking for health coverage, do not limit yourself to the standard benefits available. Take some time to dig deeper, and do your homework to maximize the gains of a comprehensive plan.