Busting 8 Health Insurance Fallacies

The above plans and premiums are for AED 1,000,000 Sum insured for 1 Adult of 30 Years for Dubai city.

Perhaps health insurance is amongst the most important kinds of general insurance. But there are many people who still have doubts regarding investing in a good medical insurance plan. This may happen because of myths. Unfortunately, there are a few myths around health insurance, which are still hot in the market.

Medical insurance could be a difficult product for a lot of people to understand properly, especially because of its clauses and technicalities. But for the people, who are looking for this insurance, there is an abundance of information available online; however, some of these may include a few fallacies.

The said information also helps the readers and potential insurance-buyers understand the product better in the click of a few buttons that also helps them clear any misconceptions they might have stumbled upon on their way.

Here we have busted some of the medical insurance myths that may keep you from the facts related to it.

1. No Health Plan for Smokers

The myth says that smokers may not get a decent health insurance plan. However, the fact is that although people who smoke may be at a considerably higher risk in terms of their health, they are eligible for buying a medical insurance policy.

However, since the risk involved with such individuals is higher, they may have to pay a higher insurance premium as opposed to others. They may also have to go through stricter medical check-ups before the insurance plan is being offered to them.

2. Health Plan Offered by your Employer is enough

A lot of organizations provide coverage for their employees under the group corporate health plans as a part of the welfare program for the employees. However, in case you have the insurance plan provided by your employer, do not ignore the necessity of having an individual health plan.

Although the corporate policies turn out to be useful, they may not include your dependents in the cover, ask you to make co-payments, and more. Moreover, your plan is active and applicable only till the time you are employed with the company.

Buying a medical plan early in life could be a wise decision as your health insurance Dubai expenses can become costlier with more years adding to your life and your health deteriorates generally. Furthermore, in case you’re between jobs and don’t hold any individual plan, you will be without a health cover.

3. You get paid only when you get hospitalized

Let’s get this straight, only those surgeries, which need hospitalization, will get coverage under a health plan. Courtesy to the advancements in the technology, it’s not always important that an individual must be hospitalized for undergoing surgery.

Daycare processes such as kidney stone removal, a cataract operation, and other such minor surgeries do not need the patients to be hospitalized and they are simply discharged after a few hours. Such processes are covered under a medical plan. Some medical insurance providers also extend coverage for related expenses such as doctor consultation expenses, dental treatments, etc under the plan.

4. You are Young and Fit, You Don’t Need Health Insurance

Hands down, it is great to be fit and healthy, but that doesn’t protect you from unfortunate incidents such as accidents or illnesses in the future. The fittest of people may catch diseases like dengue and malaria. An accident can injure anyone with any intensity and the hospitalization expenses for these can cost you a lot of your hard-earned dirhams, based on the injuries.

5. Day-care Processes and Network Hospitals: More the Merrier

For attracting the customers, medical insurance brochures usually emphasize marketing the widespread impaneled hospital network they have. But the fact is that the hospitals involved in the network are a more important factor than the number of those hospitals involved.

The reason is the list of hospitals falling under the network of an insurance provider may change each year leading to your hospital of preference going off the said list during any year. This same logic is applicable to daycare processes that are also given considerable weightage while selecting a plan.

If your insurance plan consists of an exhaustive list of daycare processes, which it covers, then the probability of having an equally exhaustive list of conditions and restrictions applied to the claims being raised & accepted for such processes is high.

6. Health Insurance will help you cover an Instant Surgery

The health plans have a clause that allows the individuals to make a claim only in the first 30 to 90 days. Also, these plans have a part known as the waiting period, which is applicable to selected ailments such as hysterectomy. Most of the health plans offer a waiting period of two-three years for pre-existing ailments.

While purchasing the plan, make sure that you reveal all your medical details to the insurance provider for avoiding the rejection of your claim altogether by the insurance provider in case it is found that your condition was pre-existing, that is, existing before purchasing the policy.

7. Offline and Online Health Insurance Plans are Different

Online buying has become the order of the current time more than ever and the insurance sector is no exception. For the convenience of the customers, the insurance providers are now offering plans that carry the same benefits, terms, and conditions as the ones offered by the plans bought offline. However, the policies bought online may usually provide the benefit of a lower insurance premium because there is no agent and their commission involved.

This advantage gets passed on to the customers automatically who receive lower insurance premium by buying their insurance plan online. Moreover, customer care executives will also be ready to take care of all your doubts and issues. It is expected that you go through your insurance policy document properly for making sure that you know what you are investing in.

8. Everything Becomes Easier with Cashless Payments

This is a common myth that cashless payments will be an end to all your worries. However, this is not actually true. The cashless payments are dependent on some factors such as-

First, the hospital you are being admitted in should be an assured partner in the insurance provider’s network of cashless hospitals, only then you will receive any benefit from the facility.

Second, is that the cashless scenario is a round the clock operation. This implies that the insurance counter of the hospital you are in might not be functional 24x7, just like the staff at the hospital. In such a case, in case you have to make your payment at the time when the counter is not functional, you’ll have no option but to pay the concerned amount yourself, before settling the same with you insurance provider later.

In a Nutshell!

Health insurance is probably one of the most important kinds of general insurance. However, a lot of people still have doubts about investing in a good health plan due to the influence of the fallacies related to it. Unfortunately, there are some damaging myths regarding this insurance that continue to affect people and their decisions.

You must keep away from such outdated and baseless medical insurance myths. You require a good health plan for taking care of yourself and your loved ones. Find a suitable plan and live a happy, stress-free, and healthy life.