Buy Cashless Health Insurance: Know The Network Hospital While Buying

Health insurance or medical insurance or medical insurance is a type of insurance that provides coverage for one’s medical and hospitalization expenses up to the amount of sum insured by the policy. In India, health insurance providers offer an attractive feature known as the cashless scheme. An important consideration while buying a cashless health insurance policy is the hospital network.Let us understand how the hospital network plays a role in cashless health insurance plans .

In a cashless health insurance policy , the insurance company mainly settles the claim directly with the empanelled hospital. This is a favourable feature since the insured person does not have to effectively fork out any sum towards his or her medical bills. The out-of-pocket costs for the policyholder in a cashless scheme are negligible (subject to his or her coverage).

Health insurance providers offer cashless schemes by partnering up with a chain of hospitals, known as the hospital network. The policy document of a cashless policy clearly stipulates the list of hospitals across the country that the insurance company has tied up with. The claim settlement process takes place directly with the tied-up hospital.

Non-network hospitals, as the name suggests, includes hospitals not affiliated with the insurance company. Thus, regular hospitals won’t provide the cashless treatment facility to the insured person. The patient shall be required to pay for his or her hospitalization expenses. Therefore, if you have a cashless policy, a non-network hospital must be considered only in case of an emergency, where it may not be possible to rush to a network hospital.

The hospital network is an important criterion while buying a cashless health insurance policy. Hospital network is a crucial aspect of consideration because the cashless claim could be denied, and the insured individual would have to unwillingly opt for the reimbursement claim route. Cashless policies come at the cost of higher premiums. There is no point in paying a higher price for a cashless scheme and ultimately not enjoying its benefits.Following is a check-list of aspects to take into account before buying a cashless health plan.

• Which hospitals are covered by the policy?
• Do you have easy access to these hospitals?
• Which of these hospitals are situated in your city/district? Is this number adequate?
• Are these hospitals reputable?

In case the policyholder intends to move to another city, it won’t be difficult to plan hospitalization if he or she is familiar with the list of empanelled hospitals in that area.

Hospitalization can be a stressful event for a person or their family. Especially in case of an emergency, there could be a sudden urgency for a large amount of money. During such trying times, cashless policies offer financial aid as well as mental peace. By opting for cashless mediclaim policies, one can reduce their financial burden to a large extent.

The information contained herein is generic in nature and is meant for educational purposes only. Nothing here is to be construed as an investment or financial or taxation advice nor to be considered as an invitation or solicitation or advertisement for any financial product. Readers are advised to exercise discretion and should seek independent professional advice prior to making any investment decision in relation to any financial product. Aditya Birla Capital Group is not liable for any decision arising out of the use of this information.