Buying a comprehensive family health insurance policy is one of the best ways to protect yourself and your loved ones as you get to avoid the weight of huge medical bills. Along with the basic coverage, you can also include various add-ons in your insurance policy. These additional covers increase your premium by a small margin but are extremely helpful if you want to get extensive coverage for your medical insurance policy and be financially secured in case of an unforeseen health emergency.

One such add-on that is popular and extremely beneficial for comprehensive medical insurance policyholders is the hospital cash benefit. To know more about this amazing add-on, read on –

What exactly is the hospital cash benefit?

A comprehensive medical insurance policy covers most of your hospitalization charges except for a few inadmissible charges like X-ray charges, surgical accessories, etc. These can be covered by availing of the hospital cash benefit, as this add-on gives you a lump sum amount of money daily till the time you are hospitalized. On average the money disbursed by the insurer on daily basis to help you with the hospitalization charges under this add-on ranges anywhere between Rs.1000 to Rs. 10,000 and is fixed upon when you buy the policy. The usage of the money given by the insurer under this add-on is up to the discretion of the policyholder. All you need to avail of this benefit is proof of your hospitalization for more than at least 24 to 48 hours.

What should you keep in mind before availing of this amazing benefit?

There are a few things one must keep in mind when including this add-on to your medical insurance policy and those are –

What happens to your coverage if you are in an ICU?

In a situation where you are admitted to the ICU, the insurer doubles the lump sum amount of money they provide to you on a daily basis when you are hospitalized. To give you more clarity, if the decided coverage amount is Rs.2000 under this add-on, the insurer pays you double the original amount, i.e., Rs.4000, when you are admitted to the ICU.

What happens in the event of you being hospitalized for an extended period of time?

Usually, this add-on covers you for 30 to 40 days of hospitalization. However, you can increase this duration when you include this add-on in your medical insurance policy.  The default number of hospitalization days covered differs from one insurer to another and one can easily find out about the same by visiting the insurance provider’s website or by calling them up directly.

Why should you get the hospital cash benefit added to your medical insurance policy?

• It proves useful in case you have a loss of income due to health issues
• It covers small ancillary costs
• You can use the hospital cash benefit without raising a claim on your medical insurance policy if you are hospitalized for a minor health issue and thus, get to preserve your NCB

We hope this article helps you understand the hospital cash benefit better and convinces you to avail of this extra protection in your medical insurance policy.