Case Study:-
Raj has just graduated and was lucky
to get placed in a top IT company. He was happy that his company was located
near his home; he had a company sponsored health insurance policy,
understanding colleagues and great work atmosphere! With a stable job, Raj soon
got married. With everything going so well for him, Raj had no worries until
his mother needed to be hospitalized for a hip surgery. But Raj wasn't perturbed as he had a health insurance policy which would pay for it. Soon his
wife gave him the good news that they were expecting their first baby, Raj was
ecstatic.
Within 6 months however, everything
changed, global economy went through a recession and Raj’s company which was
dependent on US market felt the consequences. His company soon started cutting
costs and newer employees had to go.
Now Raj was no longer the confident
young man that he used to be. He was depressed, with EMI to pay and more
potential expenses to bear with the new child! It was after his wife’s delivery
that he realized that had he had an independent health cover; he wouldn't be in
such a financial mess. Realizing his mistake, Raj quickly got himself and his
family a health insurance policy in spite of the money crunch at home.
What
does this story tell you? Other than the fickle nature of good fate, we
understand that depending on the company’s health insurance policy alone is not
a good idea. Like loss of jobs, there are many reasons—as below-- why you must buy
an independent health cover.
You exceed your cover
A corporate health insurance plan looks
attractive compared to individual health insurance plans but the corporate
health insurance policy is not a complete solution. Like in case you have more
than one claim in one year and you exceed your cover amount of your corporate
health insurance policy; you would have to pay the residual amount with your
own money which will affect your finances. Imagine if Raj had both his wife’s
delivery and his mom’s surgery in one year, the sum assured wouldn't have
sufficed and Raj would have had to arrange for a large amount from his own
pocket, even assuming he had not lost his employment. But if you buy another
health insurance policy, independent of your corporate health insurance policy, you wouldn't have to worry about the balance amount; between the
two health insurance policies, your total outgo would mostly get covered.
You lose your job or are between jobs:
Like Raj, many of earning members of the families suddenly find
themselves without jobs. With loans to pay and mouths to feed, a sudden medical
emergency can topple the budget of the entire household. You cannot rely on
your good luck or your friends and family to provide for you during such emergencies.
Be self-reliant and get an independent health insurance policy which would be a
great help during times like these.
Your company policy changes:
Your Company may suddenly decide to change or modify some of the
conditions in your health insurance policy like not covering family members of
the employees or not covering pre-existing diseases. In such cases you would
suddenly discover that you are left uncovered and are vulnerable against the
expenses and have to be subjected to the waiting period if you buy a new individual health insurance policy at
that stage.
After Retirement:
Someone who has worked for a company for majority of his life will find
that the company health insurance which had taken care of all the medical bills
is no longer available post retirement. For them who have retired and now want
to get a new independent health insurance policy, it would not be an easy ride
ahead. Even though there are many senior citizen policies available, one may have
to undergo medical tests, pay additional premium for pre-existing diseases, be
subjected to compulsory co-payment features and then there is the waiting
period for pre-existing diseases. It certainly would be difficult to get a new
health insurance policy at 60 than say at 30. At a younger age, not only will
you get the pre-existing diseases covered earlier but your premium may be lower
because of ‘no claim’ discounts. So get an independent health insurance policy
while you are working rather than suffer after retirement.
So now you know why you cannot just relax under the impression that all
your health expenses will be taken care by your company’s health insurance
policy, you need to create a safety net in the form of a separate health
insurance policy for you and your family to fall back on in case of an
emergency that your company’s health insurance policy will not pay for
