How Does Cashless Health Insurance Work and Why Should You Care?
In simple terms, cashless health insurance is a plan that allows policyholders to avail high-quality healthcare at your insurer’s network hospitals without upfront payments. The hospital and the insurer will settle the bill among themselves. If you want to know how this policy works, its importance, coverage, and more continue reading this article.
How Does Cashless Health Insurance Work?
If you have cashless health insurance you do not have to worry about settling medical bills with the hospital and can only focus on recovery. Here’s how this works:
Step 1: Choose Your Insurer
You compare several top insurance providers and choose one its range of products, customer reviews, and compatibility with your specific needs.
Step 2: Select A Plan
Go through all the relevant plans the insurer has to offer and select one that suits your needs the most and buy health insurance for you or your family.
Step 3: Pay Premium
You can choose to pay the premium for that plan in monthly, quarterly, or yearly instalments to keep your magic card active.
Step 4: Find a Network Hospital
Skim through the list of hospitals your insurance company is partnered with. Choose one that is nearest to your location or any other you would like to be treated at.
Step 5: Show Your Health Insurance Card
When you need treatment at one of those hospitals you show your magic card or the health insurance card that holds all information the insurer requires.
Step 6: Get Treated
The hospital treats you and communicates with the insurer about the expenses.
Step 7: Insurance Pays the Bill
Your insurer settles the bill with the hospital directly. You do not need to pay anything except any co-payments or non-covered expenses.
Step 8: You Stay Stress-Free
You can focus on recovery and stay stress-free.
Why is Cashless Health Insurance Important?
You can get an idea why cashless health insurance is so important for people by taking a look at the pointers below:
● Zero Stress
This point cannot be stressed enough, as financial difficulties cause major distress in medical emergencies. Cashless health insurance mitigates it flawlessly.
● Access to High-Quality Healthcare
This is another reason to go for such health insurance. If you cannot afford top-grade treatment let your insurer take care of it.
● Health Planning Gets Easier
As medical emergencies will not bring any sudden financial shortages you can plan for the future accurately.
● Affordable Access to Healthcare
Health insurance premiums are affordable. You can have good insurance at only Rs. 20/day.
What Does a Cashless Health Insurance Cover?
The following things are usually covered by when you buy health insurance policy:
1. Hospitalisation
If you require spending time at the hospital for treatment this insurance will cover the costs.
2. Doctor’s Fees
Doctor’s fees during the stay at the hospital are covered by cashless insurance.
3. Surgeries
If your treatment involves surgeries your insurance will cover it whether it is minor or major.
4. Ambulance Charges
This insurance also takes care of the ambulance charges for services you may need to reach the hospital during emergency situations.
5. Pre and Post-Hospitalisation
Not only the costs incurred at the hospital but also the expenses before and after hospitalisation like doctor consultation, diagnostic test, and follow-up treatment are covered.
6. Day Care Procedures
The insurance also covers treatments that do not require you to stay overnight at the hospital.
What Documents Will You Need for Cashless Hospitalisation?
When you need to avail cashless hospitalisation you have to keep some documents ready. Here is a list of these documents:
● Health Insurance Card
It includes details like coverage amount, policy number, contact information of the insurance company, etc.
● ID Proof
Bring ID proof like voter ID, driving licence, Aadhaar card, or passport.
● Hospital Pre-Authorisation Form
Fill out this form that your insurance company will provide and get it signed by the treating doctor.
● Doctor’s Prescription
You must have a doctor’s prescription recommending hospital care.
● Medical Reports and History
Carry any test results, medical records, or treatment history relevant to the present ailment.
● Hospital Admission Form
Accurately fill out the hospital admission form.
● Emergency Contact Details
Bring a list of emergency contact numbers of family members or friends.
● Claim Form
Fill out a claim form for your insurance.
● Cashless Health Card
If your insurance provider has issued a cashless health card, bring it for smooth processing.
● Any Other Particular Forms
Check with your hospital and insurer for any other necessary forms or documents.
The Bottom Line
Cashless health insurance will give you access to quality healthcare when you need it and will not let you worry about money. As healthcare expenses are on a steady rise in India it is often seen that people cannot afford standard treatment. Obtaining cashless health insurance can mitigate that problem and offer stress-free treatment and recovery.
You can get in touch with the executives at ACKO to have more information about different health insurance policies.
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