Hospitalization Coverage Only
Almost all health insurance plans covers hospitalization expesnes. Some of the plans also covers hospitalization for maternity/child-birth cases after a waiting period. These plans usually come with a yearly total coverage amount up to which the you will get insurance benefit if you take treatment in a hospital. An important note to consider here is that health insurance policies give back the medical expenses (subject to exclusion and deductibles) as per the hospital bill. You need to properly collect and preserve the medical documents and bills at the time of discharge to submit an insurance claim.
Hospitalization with OPD Coverage
Health insurance policies also covers out-door treatment costs such as doctor consultation, diagnostic tests, prescription medicines, etc. Usually these type of plans are a bit more expensive in terms of yearly premium as they covers OPD (out-door) treatments. However, buying these types of health insurance plans are always a better idea since they provide coverage against serious illnesses which requires hospitalization as well as the minor ones which does not require hospital admission. These plans also come with a yearly total coverage amount for hospital treament and out-door treatments, up to which you can claim and get financial benefit.
Critical Illness Coverage
A critical illness (CI) plan is a type of health insurance policy that provides a fixed benefit or reimbursement of expenses up to the coverage amount in case of a diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. Hence it is called the Critical Illness insurance. These plans usually cover severe or life-threatening diseases such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, coronary artery bypass surgery, major organ transplantation, etc. This list may include more diseases or illnesses based on the insurance company or plan. Critical illness health insurance policies are affordable and can be a lifesaver for you in an unfortunate situation.
Sometimes, critical illness coverages are bundled with a standard hospitalization health insurance policy so that you can get complete coverage simply by purchasing a single policy. Otherwise, you can buy a standard health insurance plan and get critical illness coverage separately to ensure better financial safety in an emergency.
Additional Benefits: If the health insurance is from a life insurance company then you may get an extra term life insurance coverage along with the health coverage without any additional premium. This can be a good option for you to secure your dependent family members in case any unfortunate event occurs to you.