Does your health insurance provide coverage for coronavirus?

The entire world is dealing with the outbreak of Coronavirus from months now. Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19 has affected more than 19 million people worldwide and has claimed over 1 million lives so far. In India, a total of 19,984 cases have been confirmed of COVID-19 (as on 22^nd April 2020) and the death toll has reached up to 640 (as on 22^nd April 2020). The increasing severity of this virus has become a matter of utmost importance for our vastly populated nation.

Even though our government is taking every possible step to prevent the spread of the virus, it is important to prepare ourselves in advance for any unfavorable situation. Having health insurance is one of the solutions to protect yourself and your loved ones against any type of medical emergency. However, the question arises is that does your health insurance provide coverage against Novel Coronavirus.

Further in this article, we will elaborately discuss Coronavirus Health Insurance and its inclusion and exclusion.

What is Coronavirus Health Insurance?

Well, most of the health insurance policies in India are providing coverage for COVID-19 infection. Coronavirus Health Insurance is health insurance policies, which provides coverage for the medical expenses that occurred for the treatment of Coronavirus. These health insurance policies are specifically designed to provide coverage for the hospitalization expenses of the person insured, regardless of the disease that he/she has been diagnosed. Most health insurance companies cover the hospitalization expenses that occurred in the treatment of viral infections. Thus, as Coronavirus is a viral infection, a comprehensive health insurance policy covers the hospitalization expenses that occurred in the treatment of COVID-19.

The coronavirus health insurance policy provides coverage to the insured from the day he/she is diagnosed with COVID-19.

What is Excluded by Coronavirus Health Insurance Policy?

While you plan to purchase Coronavirus Health Insurance Policy, it is important to know that not all medical costs are covered by the policy. Here are the exclusions under the coronavirus insurance.

· Home Quarantine

The policy does not provide any coverage for the expenses that occur while being in quarantine at home.

· Pre-existing Diseases

The policy does not provide coverage for the expenses occurred for the treatment of pre-existing health diseases unless the waiting period is over.

· Non-recognized Quarantine Centre

The policy does not provide any coverage for the medical treatment expenses in case the individual is quarantine at a non-recognized center for Coronavirus treatment.

· Hospitalization without the Recommendation of Doctor

In case the person gets hospitalized without the recommendation of a qualified doctor, then the policy will not provide coverage for the hospitalization expenses occurring out of it.

· Pre-Natal and Post-Natal Expenses

The policy does not cover any pre or post-natal expenses suffered by the policyholder unless it leads to his/her hospitalization.

Even though most of the health insurance policies are providing coverage against COVID-19, getting a claim for its treatment in a certain scenario can be difficult. Let’s take a look at the situations in which your claim might get rejected.

1. If the Insured is Not Hospitalized for at Least 24 Hours

Coronavirus health insurance claims will be payable only in case the insured is hospitalized for more than or at least 24 hours. However, the insurer might decline the claim if the insured only takes the outpatient treatment.

2. If the Disease is Declared Pandemic/Epidemic

The insurer might reject the claim if the disease is declared as a pandemic/epidemic. As per the policybazaar expert and head of health insurance, Amit Chhabra, “ Not all but some of the health insurance policies cover such epidemic/pandemic. However, it majorly depends upon the policy”. Thus it is important to read the policy documents and contact the health insurer immediately.

3. If an Individual is Going for Planned Treatment

In case the insured suffers from any respiratory-related sickness in the past four weeks, then the claim under regular health insurance or Coronavirus health insurance policy might not get settled. For example, if the insured person is suffering from respiratory disease, severe cough, flu, breathlessness from the past few days, and plans to buy a health insurance policy to get the claim settled then the claim will not be paid under the policy.

4. In case the Insured Family Members Have a Travel History of the Affected Countries

In the case of regular health insurance policy if the insured person is traveling from the COVID-19 affected country and tested positive then they will be covered under the policy as long as they are being quarantined in India.

However, coronavirus health insurance policy does not provide coverage for people who have traveled to COVID-19 affected countries like Taiwan, China, Hong-Kong, Japan, Kuwait, Italy, Macau, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, etc.

Final Words

Even though COVID-19 is a newly discovered disease, it is covered by most of the existing health insurance policies. However, the coverage offered by the policy and claim process may vary from policy to policy. Thus, it is very important that you check the policy details before purchasing the one and be aware of the terms and conditions of the policy.