Health Insurance

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4 years ago

Health Insurance

The term ‘Health Insurance” comprises of two words – health and insurance. The literal meaning of health insurance is Indemnity or protection against loss related to death or injury to the human body.

The term insurance is the agreement between the insurer and the insured in which the insurer agrees to pay the insured a certain amount of money in case the specified incident/ loss/ injury happens or doesn’t happen, in return, he gets a pre-determined amount of fees or money from the insured called the premium.

So, Health Insurance is the contract between insured and insurer in which the insured pays a certain amount of premium to the insurer to get the assurance from the insurer for paying for his illness, injury, death or any eventuality which may have been agreed upon in the contract and accepted by both of them. The amount of premium may be fixed by both parties considering the risks covered, insurance amount specified and the health condition of the insured.

The origin of the term Insurance is assumed to be in the late nineteenth century when in 1850 the first US insurance firm was established. However, Health Insurance was not introduced until the late 1960s. The most extensive applicability of health insurance is found to be the early 21st century. Today we can see everywhere the medical insurance or health insurance, be it a governmental organization or a private company. A large number of private health insurance companies are operating at the international and national levels in almost every country.

The main purpose of health insurance is to meet unexpected expenses for the treatment of any diseases. In the absence of health or medical insurance, the individual person has to think about availing the best medical care specifically if the treatment is going to cost dearly. When the person is having a health care policy, he can get the best treatment that might not have been possible from his individual capacity. Also, in old age, the health expenses generally increase and the earning capacity of the person decreases. So the health insurance policy is best. The insurance benefits may include hospital expenses, ambulance charges, nursing, and daycare charges, various investigation charges, and many others as per the contract.

So, why it is important to have health insurance. In the absence of health insurance cover, the expenses which might be faced for the treatment of a serious disease would be a great strain on the individual and his family. During later stage of life, many life-threatening diseases are roped-in, treatment of whose becomes a costly affair. Having a medical insurance policy at hand gives the person confidence and he can receive the correct and proper medical care. Various benefits include all expenses for treatment including pregnancy/ delivery charges, dental care, ambulance charges, and fully cashless treatment at designated or empaneled hospitals.

Due to the modern way of living, various lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes, heart ailments, asthma, and other life-threatening disease are encountered. Serious environmental pollution, impure drinking water, chemical-laden foodstuffs, bad eating habits, and wrong lifestyle make our body prone to various disease especially in the latter half of our life. So it is really important to have a health cover policy well in time. In certain countries, the governmental organizations provide these facilities free of cost to all the citizens. But in Africa and Asia regions, normally the private companies are offering these facilities.

In the latest development, serious disease like cancer is also being included in health policy. Other benefits are being added every day and the health insurance sector is expanding every day. The number of companies offering health cover increasing every day and the competition is very tough. Due to this competition, the companies are offering policies at very low premiums, and in case of insurance claims, they are not able to pay the required benefits to the insured. This leads to court litigation and the family of the diseased has to undergo a tough financial state.

Due to the presence of a multi-type of companies operating in health insurance and competition among them make the requirement of a strong regulatory body controlled by any governmental organization. So it is urgently needed to control all the insurance companies by a governmental organization otherwise the concept of insurance will not give its desired benefits to the beneficiaries.