Health insurance policies are usually called mediclaim policies because, in earlier years when the health insurance concept was new, there were few health insurance policies in the market. And they went by the name of mediclaim. See What is the difference between mediclaim and health insurance?
Even today, when there are hundreds of health insurance policies available in the market, many think that these two are one and the same. This is, however, not true. Let’s understand why.
Mediclaim v/s health insurance
Mediclaim policies are indemnity health insurance plans which pay for the actual medical expenses incurred by the policyholder. These plans cover expenses incurred when the insured is in hospital and the maximum claim limit to the sum insured of the plan.
Health insurance, on the other hand, is a wider concept. It does not only include indemnity-oriented mediclaim plans which pay for the actual medical expenses but also includes other types of coverage options.
You can find the following types of health insurance plans in the market besides the popular mediclaim policies:
- Critical illness health plans which pay a fixed benefit on the diagnosis of a critical illness covered by the plan
- Hospital cash plans which pay a fixed benefit on a daily basis if you are hospitalized for a continuous period of 24 hours or more
- Top-up and super top-up health plans which supplement an existing health insurance coverage at very low rates of premiums
- Disease-specific health plans designed to cover specific ailments
- Group health plans which cover multiple members of a group under a single plan
- Senior citizen health insurance plans cover the medical expenses incurred by senior citizens.
Mediclaim and health insurance are two different types of insurance policies that serve different purposes. Mediclaim policies are designed to cover the expenses incurred due to hospitalization for a specific illness or injury, while health insurance policies offer comprehensive coverage for various medical expenses including hospitalization, day-care procedures, diagnostic tests, pre and post hospitalisation expenses, and outpatient treatments.
Mediclaim policies are ideal for individuals who want to cover themselves against specific illnesses or injuries that are common in their family history or occupation. It is usually a more affordable option as it has limited coverage. On the other hand, health insurance policies are suitable for individuals who want comprehensive coverage for a wide range of unforeseen medical expenses.
Read more: Buying Group Health Insurance
Besides the different types of health insurance policies, there is a difference in the coverage benefits as well as the coverage level between both policies. Mediclaim plans pay only for the hospitalization expenses of the insured. This means that only when the insured is hospitalized would mediclaim plans come into the picture. Moreover, the sum insured under these plans limit to an extent can be INR 5 lakhs or INR 10 lakhs. In the case of health insurance plans, however, not only there is a wider scope of coverage. But the sum insured levels are also higher.
Under health plans, you can get coverage for hospitalization expenses as well as for other types of medical expenses like pre-hospitalization expenses, post-hospitalization expenses, ambulance costs, daycare treatments, etc. The sum insured levels are also high and can go up to crores. There are additional optional coverage benefits too which you can select for enhancing your coverage. Health insurance plans also allow you premium discounts. These features are absent from mediclaim policies and so such policies are quite different from health insurance plans.
So, we can conclude that mediclaim is a subset of health insurance or a type of health insurance policy. While this policy is a wider and more comprehensive concept.
