Hospital Cash Insurance

What is Hospital Cash Insurance?

Hospital cash insurance is a type of health insurance coverage that allows the beneficiary to acquire daily cash allowance throughout the hospitalisation period as per the chosen plan terms to compensate for the income loss. You can utilise this amount in any manner you want and need. There is no rule or restriction to it.

The amount of cash allowance may vary from one insurer to another and depends on the chosen plan terms and it remains fixed. Your policy document will bear the exact amount that you will receive as Hospicash benefit.

Even if your hospitalisation costs are lower than this amount, your insurer will still pay you the same fixed amount without any queries or limitations.

Hospital cash insurance is unique in its own terms. Some of the salient features of hospicash include:

• Daily cash allowance option: According to the terms of the plan you have chosen, you are eligible to receive INR 250 to INR 8000 as a daily hospital cash allowance. It varies with the type of plan selected and the policy terms of the concerned insurance provider.

• Policy tenure: To ensure hospital cash allowance coverage, the policy tenure must range between 1 year and 3 years.

• Optimum benefit period: Depending on the terms of the policy chosen, the optimum benefit period may vary from 15 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days or 180 days per year.

• Waiting period for PEDs: The standard waiting period for PEDs to ensure hospital cash allowance coverage usually spans between 24 months and 48 months. It may vary according to the chosen plan terms, the policy of the insurer, and the type of ailment in question.

From the above discussion, it is quite clear that a hospicash allowance is highly handy and beneficial. Some of the most highlighting benefits of buying hospital cash insurance online or offline include:

Coverage for uncovered expenses incurred

Even the best health insurance policy will never offer 100% coverage. You have to bear certain costs out of your pocket. Such expenses are technically termed as inadmissible expenses. It may include surgical accessories costs, attendant charges, etc. as per the chosen plan terms. Without considering these typical inclusions and exclusions, the concerned insurance provider pays the daily hospital cash allowance to the beneficiary. You can utilise it to handle other associated costs like travelling charges, food expenses, household bills, attendant transportation charges, etc. In short, you can utilise this money to handle costs that are usually not covered under your standard health plan

Attendant expense coverage

You may be required to hire an attendant to ensure fast recovery. However, your standard health plan may not cover this cost and you have to bear it personally. You can use the money received from the hospital cash allowance to handle these costs. Doing this, won’t make you feel burdensome and handle all the incidental expenses well.

Availability of No Claim Bonus

You can use hospital cash allowance to cover small hospital costs incurred for treating minor health issues or performing minor medical procedures. Hospicash benefits allow you to cover these expenses easily and prevent you from raising any claim. This eventually aids you in keeping your No Claim Bonus intact for future usage.

Convalescence benefit

If you require hospitalisation for 10 consecutive days for any ailment or accident, the sum amount is paid once during every individual policy year. However, this amount varies from one insurer to another. The convalescence benefit allows you to compensate for the loss of income incurred due to hospitalisation.

The eligibility criteria for purchasing hospital cash insurance may vary according to the terms of the insurer and the plan chosen. However, it usually ranges between 18 years and 65 years with lifetime renewability. In the case of dependent children, it usually ranges between 6 months and 25 years, provided either one or both of the parents are insured by the same insurer.

You usually buy hospital cash insurance to cover the additional expenses incurred during hospitalisation for up to 30-45 days, as per the plan terms and the terms of the insurance company chosen. In the case of ICU admission, this cash benefit limit doubles the actual amount for up to 7 days.

Under standard circumstances, a general health plan offers coverage for:

• In-patient hospitalisation
• Daycare procedures
• Pre- and post-hospitalisation care
• Ambulance costs
• Medicine costs

You can utilise the hospital cash insurance benefit to cover the additional costs incurred during hospitalisation which are not covered by your health policy.

Although the list of exclusions varies from one insurance provider to another, some of the common exclusions include:</b>

• Refractive eyesight error
• Dental treatment
• Maternity treatment
• Gender alteration
• Any form of self-inflicted injury or attempted suicide
• Injury due to any adventure sports or involvement in any form of hazardous activities
• Gestational surrogacy costs
• Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and sleep disorders
• Injury due to any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons
• Treatment for overusing drugs and alcohol, etc.

Hospicash benefits are highly appreciated because of their handiness. During any medical contingency, every family is always in dire need of emergency money to ensure efficient financial management.

Considering such circumstances, if your insurance provider offers you a daily cash allowance during the course of hospitalisation, it can compensate for your income loss to a certain extent. This aids you during the treatment and recovery process and also protects your family from covering the costs incurred during this period that are not covered under your chosen health insurance policy.

Unlike standard health insurance plans, the exclusive reimbursement option is only available under hospital cash insurance. This implies that you need to pay and clear the hospital dues initially by yourself and then claim reimbursement after discharge.

To ensure a smooth claim settlement, you must follow these few simple steps:

• Claim intimation: In the case of emergency hospitalisation, you need to intimate your concerned insurance provider within 48 hours of hospitalisation. In the case of planned hospitalisation, this time limit is 48 hours prior to hospitalisation. This intimation is very crucial and the future of claim settlement is dependent on punctual intimation.

• Submission of documents: Once you are discharged from the hospital, contact your respective insurance provider within 15- 30 days. The earlier done, the better. You have to submit all the relevant documents, bills, receipts, reports, and prescriptions, along with the discharge summary.

• Other documents required: If you are not claiming personally, the person who is claiming on your behalf, must inform the insurance company in writing regarding the death along with the death certificate and post-mortem report (if applicable) within 30 days of death.

• Claim settlement: Once all the documents are verified to be genuine and correct, you or your nominee will receive the approved hospital cash allowance claim amount to the registered bank account.

For purchasing

The list of documents essential to buy hospital cash insurance includes:

• Age proof like birth certificate, secondary mark sheets, etc.
• Address proof like an Aadhaar card, passport, DL, etc.
• Identity proof like passport, Aadhaar card, voter’s ID
• Recent passport-size photograph
• Medical screening reports if required

For claim settlement

You need to submit the following documents to ensure a smooth claim settlement under hospicash coverage:

• Duly filled in and signed claim form
• A copy of the discharge certificate or summary
• Copies of all the hospital bills issued during the course
• A copy of a photo identity like an Aadhaar card, PAN card, DL or any other photo ID issued by the government