India and Insurance

You have to understand that medical insurance is not an expense; it is an investment for a healthy life and security. The more you understand your policy, the better you can make it work for you. In the end, health is a privilege that every individual must enjoy and health insurance can make that possible

India has for long been known for subsidized, affordable medical care, with the availability of Universal Health Care, at least in theory. However, with new research, the pharma boom and exploding populations, the need for quality health care outweighs affordability.

That is where medical and health insurance comes in. But opposed to insurance policies for life, wealth and possessions, medical insurance needs to be individual specific where the individual needs to be well aware of numerous influencing factors which will ultimately form cohesive medical cover. Heredity, lifestyle and medical history are the primary criteria on which most major medical and health insurance providers will base their insurance quote.

If you already have comprehensive health and medical cover, you need to assess if your policy does in-fact deliver on all that is promised and if you are capitalizing on the perks of being insured as a substantial tax-saver. If you are out in the market looking to purchase insurance, your options are endless. India has a plethora of reliable insurance companies with histories of faultless service. Though medical cover is normally expensive, most health insurance companies in India will provide the option of low cost cover for a list of medical procedures that are normally deemed 'expectable'.

In addition, most medium to large companies provide medical cover to their employees and their family. This is called Company Insurance. Another type of affordable insurance include short term health insurance that is normally opted for with travel insurance or when the individual is transitioning between 2 major health policies. Short Term Insurance Policies can range from 30 days to 365 days thus proving ideal for students, tourists, etc.

So before selecting your insurance policy, read around as much as you can. The perfect combination of services will be simple enough to find once you research all that is on offer. Most Indian health insurance companies have the option of studying and buying their insurance policies online. This enables a detailed study, analysis of all the fine print, the pros and cons of each policy and finally, will also give a good idea of how much you should expect to pay in insurance payments.

You pay the premium only if you have money and or earning capacity. If some stupid comes to you and says, you better take a certain amount fo insurance or else, you have the right to beat up that person, telling the reason for threatening under IPC and lawfully, and politely say that, I can pay only if I have money. Thanks. Make sure it does not exceed 2 to 3% of your earnings, and dutifully get the tax rebate for that. If you pay Rs 100/- as yearly premium, you would get a net deduction of 100/- in income terms, working out to 40% rebate of taxes, in higher brackets.

I know many people got sick and died early, just bocz of the pressure to pay the insurance premiums.