What is Cashless Health Insurance in India?

Anyone can have a medical emergency anytime, and it can happen to anyone. Not only can these things be hard on your emotions, but they can also hurt your savings in a big way. With health care costs going up, some diseases can cost lakhs to treat, which can wipe out your savings.

You can’t know when an emergency will happen in the future. But you can be ready for that by getting the best cashless health insurance for yourself and your family.

Most people in India buy life insurance but don’t know how important it is to have health insurance. The health plan protects you from all kinds of illnesses and diseases. It ends up paying for hospital stays and other costs.

Most insurance firms in India offer two kinds of health insurance plans: 

• Plans that reimburse you  
• Plans that don’t need you to pay anything

What is a Cashless Health Insurance Policy?

As the name suggests, a cashless health insurance policy is a kind of insurance in which you don’t have to pay cash for treatment.

The insurance company directly pays the bill to the hospital. But the thing to understand about such a plan is that one can only use the cashless option at a network hospital.

When you buy the best cashless health insurance plan, you must ask the insurance agent for a list of hospitals that are part of the plan. These details are also easy to find on the insurance company’s website and policy document. If you know the list of network hospitals in your area, you won’t have to worry about last-minute problems.

You can get cashless services for 

• Health Insurance for Seniors 
• Family Health Insurance 
• Individual Health Insurance

Why having Cashless Health Insurance Policy is essential?

People don’t always have enough money for their medical bills because of rising medical costs and crises like the current pandemic.

In this case, a cashless health insurance policy is a big help because you can get treatment without having to find cash instantly. Make sure you get the treatment at a hospital part of your health insurance provider’s network.

What are the Benefits of having Cashless Health Insurance?

Financial relief:

Everyone does not carry cash with them at all times. A cashless health insurance policy is a big help in emergencies because the insurance company pays the bills instantly.

Medical emergencies: 

It saves you time and lets you get medical care based on your health insurance card. The cashless feature helps you keep your savings.

Less documentation:

When you have cashless health insurance, you don’t have to send in any paperwork, reports, or discharge sheets to get the amount you were insured for.

Quick settlement:

In this settlement, the insurance company transfers the amount to the hospital. So, there’s no waiting for the claim to be paid.

Help in an emergency:

There may be times when you have to leave the city by yourself for work, and you could get very sick. You may need to go to the hospital to get proper care in these situations. In this case, a cashless health insurance policy will help you by paying for emergency care at hospitals that are part of the plan.

What kinds of claims can be made with a cashless policy?

Planned claim:

This is for when you know you’re going to the hospital at least two to three days ahead of time. In this case, you must complete all the pre-authorization forms before going to the hospital. These are sent to the insurance company, deciding whether the claim is valid.

Emergency Claim:

You can still use your insurance if you need urgent medical care because of an accident or a severe illness. In an emergency, the insurance company must be told about the treatment as soon as possible. Protocol says that the insurer should handle the claim within 6 hours.

Things to consider while taking a Cashless Health Insurance Policy

• In emergency hospitalisation, instruct your family members to call or notify the insurer as soon as possible.

• Bring your original proof of ID with you to the hospital.

• Send the required medical and investigation reports to the insurance company.

• Give all the details regarding your insurance provider within the asked format.

Rejection of Insurance Claims made without Cash

Even if you send in the proper paperwork and choose a network hospital, your claim could still be turned down. Here are a few reasons why a claim might be turned down:

• Insurance doesn’t cover a specific illness.

• You have used up the amount of insurance for that period.

• The details on the form are not good enough.

• It took too long to tell the insurance company about a hospital stay.

How do I avail my Cashless Health Insurance Policy?

One of the best things about health insurance is paying for hospital stays without cash. This is useful for both planned and unexpected hospital stays.

If you plan to go to the hospital, you must tell your insurance company at least 3 days in advance. The same must be done within 24 hours of being hospitalised in an emergency. This step is crucial so that the pre-authorisation approval can be made in time so that you can take advantage of the cashless procedure.

To start the cashless claim process, you must give the hospital all the necessary details about the patient and the policy.

The hospital will then share with the insurance company the treatment details. Then, they’ll check all the hospital’s details and send the hospital a pre-authorisation approval if the claim is valid.

Conclusion

In today’s world, buying the best cashless health insurance plan is a great investment. It can pay your hospital bills due to an accident or illness.

You can rest assured that the cashless option is available for medical and health insurance.

It’s an extra benefit with your health insurance or mediclaim policy. It can help you save money and give you peace of mind when things go wrong.