World Diabetes Day is annually observed on November 14. The origin of this day dates back to 1991 when International Diabetes Federation and World Health Organization brought this forward, to raise the awareness about the risks associated with diabetes like heart ailments. However, this day became official in 2007, when United Nations General Assembly passed the resolution 61/225 recognizing November 14 as World Diabetes Day.
The expenses of chronic illnesses such as diabetes are increasing day by day. More than 25% of the household income may be spent for curing diabetes in India as per studies. Contributing towards diabetes care can make a huge impact on your savings, thereby affecting your other major household expenses like child’s education, EMI etc. Reports state that the direct health-care spending on diabetes across the world will be between $213-396 billion in 2025. In some countries, this will be as much as 40% of their total financial estimate. Therefore, a comprehensive health insurance plan can come handy to protect yourself economically, in case of a health emergency.
There is a wide perception among consumers that people suffering from a pre-existing disease will not get health insurance. This is one reason that people often procrastinate from taking health insurance policies. However, this notion is definitely wrong. You can easily get health insurance even if you have a pre-existing disease.
It is essential to disclose your medical history while getting health insurance, which most people do not follow. However, this can lead to serious consequences, which might even result in the rejection of claims later on. If you have a PED, ensure that you read the terms and conditions of a policy carefully before buying it. Check for sub-limits, co-payments and room rent charges so that you don’t have to lay out money from your own pocket at the time of hospitalization. Also, prefer buying health insurance online because it is faster and reduces chances of misspelling. Nowadays, tele-medicals and video-medicals have been introduced which help in quick issuance of policies.
Also read: Country to vaccinate children under 12 from January 2022
Nowadays, there are insurers who offer health insurance plans that provide early coverage or coverage from even day 1 for pre-existing diseases. Earlier, there was a waiting period for coverage of PEDs, usually 3-4 years. It means that you cannot make a claim for coverage of treatment for a PED before this duration. There are plans such as Aditya Birla Activ Health Platinum Enhanced (Diabetes) and Activ Health Platinum Essential (Diabetes) which provide early coverage for diabetes. In these plans, OPD benefits are covered from Day 1 and hospitalization expenses are covered after 30 days for any complication arising due to Diabetes. It has a free chronic management programme that gets activated if you develop a chronic condition after buying the policy. It offers doctor consultation – 3 visits, Diagnostic Tests – HBA1c and Creatinine. You also get reward points for staying healthy that reduce your premium. It also offers access to experts on medical, nutritional, fitness, mental counselling session, and homoeopathy tele-consultation.
Star Health also offers a plan called Diabetes Safe Plan- B which has only 12 months waiting for hospitalization expenses arising due to diabetic complications. Any person with Type I or Type II Diabetes Mellitus can opt for this plan. The plan covers hospitalization expenses due to complications of diabetes such as room charges, surgeon’s fees, blood, oxygen and diagnostic expenses, cost of medicine and drugs etc. It also covers the cost of fasting and post prandial and HbA1C tests – once every six months – up to Rs.750 per event up to Rs.1500 per policy period.
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