While the ghost of Covid-19 still not dead, another virus Nipah is sending a chill down the spine of the people in Kerala. Although the number of confirmed cases is still in the single digits, the highly infectious nature of this virus is keeping the coastal state on edge.
The state of Kerala is known for its healthcare preparedness and for effective handling of public health crises in the past. The people are also expected to be well prepared in terms of their finances so that any deadly virus can be taken on by the best healthcare possible, and money doesn’t become a stumbling block in it.
One of the things that policyholders can, and should, do is to buy a number of add-on covers or riders to their health insurance plan to ensure that additional medical cost doesn’t sabotage their financial planning, completely or partially.
These are some of the add-on covers or riders one can buy to minimise the impact of an unexpected virus or disease:
Critical illness cover: This rider covers a number of critical illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, stroke. The policyholder stands to receive a lumpsum amount upon diagnosis of the illness covered.
No claims bonus: This bonus enables policyholders to expand the size of sum assured when they did not happen to make a claim in the preceding year (s). This additional sum assured is given as a bonus for not having made a claim.
Consumable cover: The medical items that can be used only once and therefore discarded post use are covered in the consumable add-on cover. This rider became popular during and after the pandemic when a chunk of hospital bills covered the cost of items such as PPE kits, gloves, etc.
Daily allowance cover: With this rider, the insured person is given a daily allowance for each day of hospitalisation to meet a variety of expenses.
Room rent waiver: Most health insurance covers have a capping on the daily room rent.And when the hospital has a room that costs higher than this cap then the additional cost is borne by the policyholder. But with riders, this additional cost is taken care of.
There are a number of other riders and add-ons that one can opt for based on their availability with the insurer and suitability to the insured.
Even after buying these add-ons, one can’t necessarily win the battle against the virus – but it is vital to be prepared for it to the best of your capability.
