Do you have the right insurance policies to protect you against Covid-19? If not, how should you fill the gap? Read on to find out how you can pick the right insurance cover – should you opt for the Covid-specific insurance covers or should you go for a comprehensive health, term plan?
Covid-specific insurance covers
In 2020, insurance companies rolled out the Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak covers on the basis of guidelines issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). These standard health insurance policies cover the treatment cost of the coronavirus disease. These policies are issued for very short-term and was supposed to remain valid until March 31, 2021. Irdai has now allowed insurers to offer and renew these Covid-19 specific health policies up to September 30, 2021.
The Corona Kavach Policy is offered as a health cover by the insurer to individuals and families on an indemnity basis. While the Corona Rakshak is offered by the insurer on a benefit basis.
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Difference between Corona Kavach, Corona Rakshak and other coronavirus health insurance policies
When should you go for Corona Kavach?
This is an indemnity-based health insurance policy which re-imburses your actual expenses for the treatment of the novel coronavirus disease. It covers Covid-related hospitalisation expenses, home care treatment expenses, medical expenses towards Ayush treatment, and pre- and post-hospitalisation medical expenses. To buy this policy your age should be between 18 years and 65 years. If you have children below the age of 18 years, you can go for a family floater option to include your children and dependent parents.
The Corona Kavach has the lowest initial cooling period of 15 days compared to 30 days for comprehensive health plans. The sum assured of the Corona Kavach ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh.
These plans are affordable which makes it possible for you to buy separate protection for each family member. While an individual comprehensive health insurance policy with Rs 5 lakh sum assured usually comes with a premium in excess of Rs 10,000 with most insurers, you can get a Corona Kavach cover of Rs 5 lakh for Rs 1,300– 3,000. For instance, you can get Rs 5 lakh Corona Kavach cover from Oriental Insurance at Rs 1,272, and from Star Health & Allied Insurance at Rs 2,965. There are other insurers who charge a higher amount for the same amount of coverage.
The Corona Kavach cover comes with tenure options of three-and-a-half months, six-and-a-half months, and nine-and-a-half months.
Who should opt for it: If you have a comprehensive health insurance plan for your family which has adequate sum assured that is sufficient to support simultaneous hospitlisations of all family members, then you do not need additional health insurance.
However, if you do not have a health insurance policy or the sum assured of your health plan is not sufficient to take care of all family members, then you should go for the Corona Kavach policy. “If anybody hasn’t invested in any kind of a health care plan then this COVID19 specific policy is a good choice which should be bought urgently without wasting any time knowing the fact the spread is quite rampant in the country currently,” says Naval Goel, Founder & CEO, PolicyX.com, an insurance comparison portal.
When should you go for Corona Rakshak?
The Corona Rakshak policy is a benefit-based plan where 100 per cent sum insured is paid to the insured if he/she gets hospitalised as per policy terms and conditions. The policy will only cover individuals.
Rather than compensating the actual expense of treatment, this policy pays the entire benefit amount on occurrence of the covid infection above a defined level of severity. To be eligible to receive the entire sum assured, the policyholder has to be hospitalised for a minimum continuous period of 72 hours.
The sum assured ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2.5 lakh. To buy this policy your age should be between 18 years and 65 years. This policy also comes with same tenure options as the Corona Kavach policy, which is three-and-a-half months, six-and-a-half months, and nine-and-a-half months.
Who should opt for it: In case you already have a health insurance plan but think that it might not be sufficient in case the entire family needs simultaneous treatment or feel that the out-of-pocket expenses might end up being high, you can opt for the Corona Rakshak policy as an additional cushion. This policy gives you the flexibility to spend the money in your preferred way.
When should you go for a comprehensive health or term plan?
If you do not have any life insurance protection, then these coronavirus-specific plans, which offer very little coverage, may not be of much help especially if the policyholder dies due to Covid-19. Therefore, it is better to go for a basic term plan that secures your family financially after your death.
“Considering the outbreak of second wave and the severity caused by the COVID-19 off late, it is imperative to have a life insurance plan as soon as possible to secure the future of the family in case of the demise of an individual. Moreover, it is always emphasised that a life insurance policy should be bought early in life to enjoy its benefits such as lesser premium with higher returns and to wisely plan the future of your family,” says Goel.
Similarly, if you do not have basic comprehensive health insurance policy it is high time you get one. There are many instances of people developing other complications after recovering from the coronavirus. The Covid-specific plans come with a very short tenure and may not offer protection for the long term.
“Primarily, COVDI19 has been observed to have long term side effects on an infected body which requires medication beyond COVID19 related expense which is not covered under COVID19 specific policies but a standard health care plan take care of the same. Also in case of a side effect caused to due COVID19 vaccination which requires hospitalisation is also taken care by the health care plan, unlike COVID19 specific which restricted till COVID19 illness hospitalisation,” says Goel.
Do keep in mind that, if you do not buy a comprehensive health plan before being infected from the coronavirus, then buying one after recovering will become difficult.
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