3 Minute Read about Common Diseases that Affect Health Insurance Policies

The healthcare industry is constantly revolutionizing. It is expanding its range of products and services. But, diseases and ailments have become common too. We are more likely to get caught in the cruel claws of critical illness at a young age. Thanks to health insurance that has come to our rescue. It’s an easy way to escape diseases or deal with financial stress during hospitalisation.

Knowing the name of common diseases/ailments in India that affect health insurance can help you choose the most relevant and suitable policy. You can understand which policy you should select.  

Here's are common diseases that affect health insurance in the country.

Fever, Gastroenteritis and Respiratory Tract Infections:

Fever is one of the most common diseases in India for which claims are raised for health insurance benefits. It is the second disease for which people largely tend to buy health insurance policies. After the fever, other common diseases are gastroenteritis and respiratory tract infections. There has been a drastic rise in the number of individuals seeking out cover for respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis.

These diseases are due to the rising air pollution level and drastic environmental conditions. It has been noticed that whenever there are changes in the environment, there is an increase in cases of hospitalisation due to fever and respiratory issues.

Malaria, Pneumonia and Tuberculosis:

Malaria, Pneumonia and Tuberculosis are other common infectious diseases that affect your health, and thereby your mediclaim policies. These diseases lead to several cases of hospitalisation and medical treatment. Most of the claims are raised in metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The major causes of these diseases are dietary patterns, environmental changes, improper nutrition, unhygienic eating habits, and air pollution.

Heart Disease and Kidney Problems

Heart ailments and kidney problems come into the critical illness category. For complete protection against them, critical illness insurance policies are in place. Several insurance companies in India are offering disease-specific insurance or critical illness products. The incidence of heart and kidney problems are also increasing at a high pace.

The main causes of these diseases are lack of balanced diet and nutrition, unhygienic eating habit, sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise and much more. These common reasons pose a great danger to your health. Besides, heart and kidney problems, lung and liver failure are also gaining strength at a slower pace in India.

List of Most Dangerous or Critical Diseases

The top killer ailments that have become quite common in India and for which maximum health insurance claims are filed are tumors including both malignant and non-malignant, cardiovascular diseases, TB, respiratory diseases, fever and infections (especially malaria), digestive diseases, diarrhea and unintentional/accidental injuries.

Cancer

A life-threatening disease, cancer comes into the category of common critical diseases that affect health insurance. According to the report revealed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the cancer burden in India has more than doubled over the last 26 years. Alone in 2016, 14 lakh patients battled with cancer in the country. Experts are of the view that these numbers have increased and the situation seems to bloom in the future.

The government lays emphasis on four priority cancers, namely:

• Breast cancer
• Cervical cancer
• Oral cancer
• Lung cancer

These four types of cancer constitute more than 40 per cent of the cancer burden in the country. The primary causes of cancer are mutation to the DNA within cells of organs. To reduce the chances of cancer, it is best to quit smoking, avoid exposure to excessive harmful UV rays, maintain a healthy drinking habit, restrict excessive drinking.

To get out of the financial trouble due to the cancer treatment, go for cancer insurance policies like iCan Cancer by Apollo Munich and Cancer Care Gold by Star Health Insurance.

AIDS/HIV

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are a spectrum of health condition, caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. The progress of the infection interferes more with the immune system, which leads to increased risks of common infections like tuberculosis and other opportunistic infections.

It’s advisable to have safe sex, get immediate medical treatment on the diagnosis of HIV, always use a new needle and uninfected blood during blood transfusion. One of the health insurance policies for HIV patients in India is Net Plus by Star Health.

Cardiovascular Diseases

There has been a rise in the number of hospitalisation due to cardiovascular diseases. The disease occurs primarily because of the sedentary lifestyle, lack of a nutritious diet, obesity due to insufficient physical inactivity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and tobacco consumption.

The preventive measures to stay away from the disease are maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, quitting smoking and tobacco usage, maintaining weight by doing regular exercise or getting engaged in physical activities.

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Takeaways

The cases of critical illnesses and lifestyle diseases are increasing day and night due to unhealthy lifestyle. Even if you’re following a disciplined fitness routine and a healthy lifestyle, you need to be financially prepared to meet planned and emergency hospitalisation. However, we can’t say that poor lifestyle is only responsible for diseases, hereditary has also a crucial role to play.  

It is important to choose a comprehensive insurance policy to deal with a medical situation. And if you belong to a family with a critical illness history, then a critical illness insurance policy is necessary for you. When choosing a policy, you should be careful enough, exercise your due diligence, and make sure it meets your and your family's medical requirements.

If you have any question regarding the right mediclaim policy for you and your family, get in touch with us at 1800-120-5698.