Health insurance means getting financial protection in times of emergencies. The best thing about a health insurance is that you don’t shell out money from your pocket for getting medical treatment at a hospital. Therefore, you must consider a health insurance plan that also has an extensive network of hospitals and offers cashless treatment.
While most health insurance policies offer the provision to make cashless claims, there could be multiple other factors that could make a policy more or less suitable for you. Have a look at the following tips on how to make sure that you are buying the right health insurance with cashless benefit:
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Choose your plan by evaluating your needs
Once you identify your healthcare needs, it becomes easier to find the best health insurance plan that meets your needs. Even the best plan that provides cashless benefit might have limitations. Also, the policy might not cover every contingency. List your priorities before you choose the one that suits you best.
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Compare policies
Various policies available in the market would be similar. Therefore, you need to check for the unique benefits. Firstly, compare the basic features. All the health insurance policies cover hospitalisation charges, post approval from the third-party administrator (TPA). However, you can always look out for the extra benefits like no-claim bonus and sum-assured refill.
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Check for network hospitals nearby
Under cashless health insurance, treatment will be provided at any of the insurance provider’s listed ‘network hospitals’. The expenses are directly settled by the insurance company with the treating hospital, without your involvement. A good health insurance company would get at least some of the top hospitals included in its network. For finding a plan that suits your needs, you also need to focus on the proximity of these hospitals. Also, ensure that the network is well spread out. If any accident takes place, you would want to be rushed to the nearest network hospital.
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Know your insurance provider
After you’re done researching and have zeroed in on a few options, digging deeper further would be more helpful. At this stage you should look at the quality of service that various insurers provide. For instance, looking at the claim settlement ratio can be a good indicator of how frequently the insurance company accepts or rejects the claims. So find out the claim settlement ratio for different companies that you had initially short-listed.
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Evaluating information
Every time you think of buying a financial product, the echoes of ‘read the terms and conditions carefully’ might ring in your ears. As you’re yet to finalise your insurer, it is actually a good idea to take a close look at the terms and conditions that your preferred company has put in place. This could save you from disappointment at a later stage.
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Other benefits
There are chances that your insurance plan may not cover medical equipment charges but might cover the costs of ambulance services as well as domiciliary treatment. Make it a point to know about all types of health insurance plans and make a note of all features of the policies you have short-listed to evaluate what you need and what you do not.
Consider all the tips mentioned above to choose the right cashless insurance plan without any hassles.