Question

Should Individuals buy Health Insurance as they buy Car Insurance?  Post your response in four paragraphs please.

Answer 1

All of us must have heard a famous but rather ignore saying- ''Health is Wealth". This saying is said to be ignored because most of the individuals, specially youngsters often neglect investing on their health as they consider health insurance not to be as crucial as car insurance which is not true especially in today's scenario when climate change is posing serious threat to health with increased pollution, decreased quality of air, water, environment, increasing diseases, increasing medical costs, etc.

But before coming to why it is necessary for individuals to buy health insurance as they buy car insurance we need to know  what health insurance is:

HEALTH INSURANCE: It refers to a type of insurance or coverage that provides for the payments of benefits as a result of sickness or injury. It includes insurance for losses from accident, medical expense, disability, or accidental death and dismemberment.

Now, coming to the benefits of having a health insurance plan are:

COVERAGE AGAINST MEDICAL EXPENSES AND CRITICAL ILLNESS:

One of the main reasons for buying health insurance is to provide coverage against medical expenses and critical illness so as to ensure that the individual does not put pressure or strain on his/her finances when seeking medical facilities or treatment making sure that the individual's only focus is recovery and not high medical expenses.

Health insurance plans provide protection against high medical costs, hospitalization expenses, day care procedures, domiciliary expenses, and ambulance charges.

CHANGING LIFESTYLE HAS INCREASED ILLNESS:

With increase in competition and the need to succeed jobs have become more hectic than ever decreasing the time an individual spends on his/her health or personal needs. This has led to a considerable increase in stress, tiredness and diseases. Problems related to cholesterol, diabetes, heart and lung concerns are now seen in almost everyone despite their age. This is one of the reasons to purchase a health insurance policy so as ensure that you do not go bankrupt due to all these medical expenses and are able to afford quality healthcare and medical treatment.

CASHLESS CLAIM BENEFIT:

Many health insurance policies also provide cashless-claim benefit which means that the policy holder need not pay any medical expenses out of his/her own pocket. All the hospitalization expenses or payments are settled between the insurer and the hospital only. But in order to avail this benefit the insured must get admitted in insurers network hospitals.

TAX BENEFITS:

Along with all the health related or expense coverage benefits your health insurance policy or premium paid towards that policy also provides tax related benefits.

In India, Premiums paid towards your health care policy are eligible for tax deductions under Section 80 D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. If you are under 60 years of age, you may claim up to INR 25,000 tax benefits on health insurance premiums for yourself, your spouse, and dependent children, and an additional tax benefit of INR 25,000 for parents. If either of your parents is a senior citizen, you may claim up to INR 30,000 tax benefit.

So, yes individuals should buy health insurance as they buy car insurance.