Coronavirus: Does your health insurance provide Covid 19 treatment cover?

The coronavirus-caused COVID 19 pandemic has been an eyeopener for many of us and made us realise the importance of health insurance. Many of us had health insurance plans prior to the breakout of the pandemic and many took post spread of the disease. But a lot of us still do not know if our existing health insurance plans provide for coronavirus treatment or not! Zee Business anchor Swati Raina has some useful information for you on this.

Any basic indemnity plan will cover expenses incurred on Covid-19 treatment. But there is another aspect to this and which is - if your insurance plan is good enough to meet all the expenses of your treatment. The patients undergoing treatment may have to account for diagnostic tests, hospitalisation cover, quarantine period cover etc.

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The scientists are still grappling with the problem to find a cure for this. It is a treatment that may take long. The treatment process is lengthy. As the case may be, many people are put in ICUs and ventilators that have huge costs. In private hospitals, your bill might rise exponentially. If you are living in a metro and have family, it is advisable to take a health insurance plan between Rs 10-15 lakh, Raina says.

In the beginning of April, the Insurance regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) directed the insurance companies to bring Covid 19 specific insurance plans. Many companies including Star Health, Bharti Axa, ICICI Lombard and Reliance Digit have already brought a Covid-19 specific plans.

For plans which offers sum insured between Rs 21000 and Rs 2 lakh, policy takers may be required to pay insurance premium between  Rs 150 and Rs 4000. But do you really need it?

That will depend upon many factors. If you are living in areas which are risk prone or are in a job which puts you in a vulnerable spot or are at an older age, you are advised to take Covid-19 specific plans.

What is covered in Covid-19 specific plans:
-- Expenses on 14 day quarantine period
-- Hospitalisation and diagnostic expenses
-- ICU and ventilator expenses

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If you don't want to take it, even then you should review your plans periodically. Your insurance is your safety cover.