With the escalating medical expenses, individuals have to depend on the health insurance policy or medical insurance policies to take care of their finances during such torrid times. However, there is a predominant confusion about whether health insurance and medical insurance are similar.
Albeit, health insurance and medical insurance seem synonymous, they have slight differences between them, and a proposer must know before availing of any of it. It seems as if both products serve the same purpose; however, both health insurance and medical insurance have a distinct definition.
One can clearly understand the dissimilarity between the two from the below-mentioned details.
A health insurance policy extends coverage for miscellaneous expenses, not only for hospitalisation costs but also for pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenditures. Health insurance India has sub-types that include Individual health insurance policies, family floater health insurance policies, surgical and critical illness plans etc. In addition, health insurance providers extend customised plans to cater to the varied needs of a policyholder.
The coverage offered under a health insurance policy is more extensive and expensive than a medical insurance policy. Under a health insurance plan, policyholders will be able to access two health insurance products: indemnity products and benefit products.
On the other hand, medical insurance is a bounded form of health insurance. It offers financial assistance for pre-specified diseases and accidents, given the policyholder is admitted to a hospital for at least 24 hours. Medical insurance is best for eliminating out of pocket costs, thereby making it cost-effective to avail of health care services.
As much as a Mediclaim policy, medical insurance extends limited coverage to medical expenses compared to health insurance. Under medical insurance plans, one can avail of two claims: cashless and reimbursement. The significant feature of medical insurance is policyholders receive instant coverage from hospitalisation costs.
Health insurance | Medical insurance |
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Health insurance offers comprehensive coverage for medical expenses, including hospitalisation charges, pre and post hospitalisation, ambulance charges etc. | Just like a mediclaim policy, medical insurance offers coverage for specific diseases, hospitalisation costs and accidents. |
With a health insurance plan, policyholders get add-on coverage on critical ailments, accidents, maternity insurance etc. | Under medical insurance plans, policyholders will not be bestowed with add-on coverage like critical illness cover, infertility cover etc. |
Policyholders get a substantial sum assured to fund medical contingency | Akin to mediclaim, the sum assured under medical insurance is comparatively lower. |
Health insurance is flexible as a policyholder can conveniently increase and reduce the coverage. Furthermore, they can lower the policy duration, sum insured etc. | On the other hand, medical insurance offers no flexibility concerning coverage, policy duration and likes. |
Health insurance policies generally come with a single claim. | The policy permits several claims till one exhausts the sum insured. |
Proposers can get coverage even without getting admitted to a hospital. | To receive financial assistance under a medical insurance policy, the hospitalisation of the proposer is essential. |
Health insurance covers almost 30 critical ailments like cancer, kidney failure, stroke etc. | On the other hand, medical insurance does not cover any such critical illness. |
The best possible way to choose between health insurance and medical insurance is to understand the proposer's healthcare requirement and their families.
Here are the ways to help an individual choose between a health insurance policy and medical insurance policy.
To sum up, health insurance and medical insurance seem identical; however, it differs with respect to multiple intricacies. For example, health insurance provides all-encompassing coverage for different medical emergencies, whereas medical insurance policyholders will be bestowed with specific health requirements.
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