Top 5 health Insurance Plans with Daily Hospitalization Cash
Many health insurance companies cover hospitalization expenses in case the insured is admitted in the hospital for more than 24 hours. These expenses include in-patient expenses, room rent, the fee of the doctor etc. But what about the expenses incurred on, for instance, food or refreshments? Is there any way we can get them covered too?
Yes, quite a few health insurance companies have come up with health insurance plans designed in a way that they offer daily cash allowance to its policyholders. Here, a fixed amount is provided to the insured for each day of hospitalization which can be used by him/her to fulfil other requirements. The amount is decided with the agreement of both, the insurer and the insured and can range anywhere from Rs. 500 per day to Rs. 3,000 per day in case of hospitalization.
As the amount is fixed, you will get it irrespective of the expenses incurred in the hospital. For instance, if your plan allows daily cash benefit of Rs. 1,000, then you will get the amount even if your expenses cost Rs. 800 or even Rs. 1,200, for that matter. This sum can be utilized to pay for other expenses incurred during hospitalization such as x-ray or traveling expenses by the family members to commute to the hospital, surgical tools, etc.
So, before deciding on which health insurance policy to buy, check out if it is offering this pre-fixed, per day cash handouts or not. But, like many other health insurance, the plans that offer daily cash also come with a waiting period clause.
Top Health Plans with Daily Hospitalisation Cash
Let us go through the top plans available in the market to understand them better:
1. HDFC ERGO (Apollo Munich) Optima Cash Plan
Optima Cash is a top-up plan that covers daily cash benefits at the time of hospitalization due to the ‘covered’ case of illness or accident. Additionally, it has much coverages features such as- daycare procedures, parents’ hospitalization, etc.
This daily cash plan is available with the sum insured of Rs. 1,000, Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 3,000 per hospitalization. And the benefits that the plan covers include-sickness hospital cash, sickness ICU cash, accidental hospital cash, accident ICU cash, daycare procedure cash, joint hospitalization due to an accident, convalescence cash, parent accommodation, etc. The policyholders also get a benefit of sum assured enhancement.
The plan is offered to people aged between 5 years to 65 years. A dependent child from 91 days of age can be covered under the plan if either of the parents is covered under it. The plan covers you, your spouse and your dependent children (if any), under the plan. If 2 or more members are covered, then the company offers a discount of 10%.
2. Royal Sundaram Smart Cash Plan
Royal Sundaram’s Smart Cash Plan majorly covers the cost of medical treatment. It includes food expenses, transportation expenses, patient’s attendance, and many such expenses. The plan provides daily payouts that can help the policyholders considerably. Benefits that the policyholders enjoy under this plan are-hospital cash benefit, hospitalization benefit (accident), convalescence benefit, joint hospitalization benefits, childbirth benefit, critical illness benefit, health check-up reimbursements, etc. One of the attractive feature of this plan that it reimburses even your parents' tickets if they visit you in India for your treatment.
The plan is available in 3 variants, viz, Smart Cash Silver, Smart Cash Gold, and Smart Cash Platinum. The plan provides coverage for 180 days. Anyone who is aged between 91 days to 75 years can get covered under this plan. The policy is available for term periods of 1, 2, and 3 years. The premium varies from variant to variant. For Silver, it is minimum Rs. 500 and maximum Rs. 3,000; for Gold it is minimum Rs. 3,000 and a maximum of Rs. 5,000; and for Platinum, it is minimum Rs. 5,000 and a maximum of Rs. 10,000; with a sum insured of Rs. 10 Lakh, Rs. 15 Lakh and Rs. 25 Lakh respectively.
3. ManipalCigna ProHealth Cash Plan
ManipalCigna's ProHealth Cash Plan can be purchased only on an individual basis. The plan allows the policyholders to avail medical facilities whenever required without worrying about the bills paid other than hospitalization. It offers certain benefits such as as-Sickness Hospital Cash Benefit, Accident Hospital Cash Benefit, ICU Cash benefit and Worldwide cover to the policyholders. Maternity expenses are also covered under the plan.
Anyone aged between 91 days and 65 years can buy this plan. It covers cash benefit every year for up to 60 days, 90 days and 180 days. The premium for the plan depends on various choices a policyholder makes. Whereas the sum assured ranges from Rs. 500 to Rs. 5,000 with 1 year of the policy term.
4. Universal Sompo Hospital Cash Plan
Universal Sompo’s Hospital Cash Plan can be purchased by any individual wanting to cover himself/herself and his/her family. Members who can be included in the plan are-spouse, dependent children up to 25 years of age and dependent parents. The minimum entry age for this plan is 18 years to 70 years. Additionally, dependent children aged more than 6 months can be added. The policyholders get benefits like-long term policy discount, family discount, etc. under this plan.
5.Max Bupa Health Companion Family Floater Plan
Max Bupa’s health Companion Family Floater is not a policy that solely focuses on daily cash benefits but offers it as one of its benefits. This one is a comprehensive plan which is designed for an individual and a nuclear family needs. The members can include you, your spouse, and up to 4 of your dependent children. The plan comes in 3 variants each offering different benefits.
Apart from daily cash benefit, it also provides the policyholders with some other key benefits such as as-in-patient care, refill benefit, pre, and post-hospitalization benefit, domiciliary treatment, vaccination in case of an animal bite, etc. But remember, to avail the benefit of daily cash in this plan, a minimum of 48 hours of hospitalization is required.
Benefits of Daily Hospital Cash Plan
Some of the benefits of daily hospital cash are highlighted below:
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Covers Additional Hospital Bills
Although, your health insurance plans covers you against your hospitalisation bills, yet if there comes any huge claim then your health insurance cover might not be enough to meet the complete claim amount. Any additional claim that might come, can be handled using a daily hospital cash plan.
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Additional Cover for Extra Expenses
Although, hospitalisation expenses are covered by a health insurance plan, yet some of the expenses left uncovered by the plan. These are known as inadmissible expenses, which includes X-ray charges, surgical expenses, etc. However, with a daily hospital cash plan, wherein a lump sum amount is provided to the policyholder at the time of hospitalisation, which can be utilized according to the liberty of the policyholder.
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No Claim Bonus (NCB)
In case, you need to get hospitalized for a minor health problem and if the hospital bill for the same is not very high, then you can make use of a daily cash plan to pay for the bills rather than raising a claim in your health insurance policy. This way you can easily preserve your no claim bonus of your health insurance plan which could have got utilized otherwise.
Considering quite a few benefits of health insurance with daily cash benefit, it is the best thing to go for one such plan and get yourself and your near and dear ones under the same. It will certainly help you meet various expenses and save some bucks too at the same time!
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