5 Reasons Why You Need Health Insurance Now!
The More You Wait, The More You Pay
When it comes to health insurance, age is an important factor. Insurance companies offer health insurance at a cheaper premium for younger people as they tend to have fewer medical problems and lesser chances of making a claim. As you get older, not only will you need to but also pay higher premiums, you will also need to undergo a medical test and prove that you are fit in order to be accepted into a health insurance plan. If a ‘pre-existing disease’ is identified during the test, your application may be rejected or you may be forced to go through a ‘waiting period’ before getting coverage.
If you get enrolled in a plan while you are still young and healthy, you will continue to pay the same premiums as you age and will be covered for any diseases that are diagnosed while already covered.
Treatment Costs are Skyrocketing
If you are hesitating to part with your money to pay for health insurance premiums, consider this – healthcare costs are increasing by the day and will continue to rise!
The Global Medical Trends Report shows a 12.5% inflation in medical treatment costs, particularly in India during the year 2017. While it is true that we see breakthrough after breakthrough in the medical research, science and technology industries, these new and improved treatment methods are also highly expensive and inaccessible by the middle class. Without a health insurance policy, paying for such treatments would be unimaginable and put you at the risk of availing debt with cut-throat interest rates.
An Emergency Occurs When You Least Expect It
In the prime of our lives, we tend to think of health insurance as an unnecessary or even a foolish act.
Think about it – stress, itself, can lead to multiple health complications, adding to the woe of pollution, the contamination of water, the toxicity of chemical-pumped vegetables and meat, to name a few. Even if you do manage to eat and live healthy, diseases like cancer can come when least expected. Not to scare you, but accidents are called accidents simply because of how unexpectedly they occur.
Your Employer’s Health Insurance is Not Enough
A lot of people tend to dismiss the idea of investing in a health insurance under the premise that their employer has already covered them under a group insurance policy. However, such policy covers are highly limited and may not be applicable for your specific treatment need. And by the time you find out, it may be too late to look for an alternative source to pay for the treatment. Sometimes, there may be an overall limit for the group, and if someone else in the same group policy has availed a part of it, it may not be sufficient for you.
Moreover, if you lose or leave your job, you will lose your insurance cover as well. The worst possible time to be uninsured is the time when you are between jobs!
Why Deny the Tax Benefits?
Everybody loves a little savings on income tax, so why not set aside a portion of what you might otherwise have to pay as taxes for investing in your own health?
As per Section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act, a person with a health insurance policy can save up to Rs. 25,000 (or Rs. 30,000 for senior citizens) annually depending on the premiums paid towards health insurance. Additionally, there is also an additional Rs. 5,000 you can save for expenses incurred for health check-ups for yourself as well as your dependent family members. It is almost like getting paid to stay healthy, so why not?