Economy

Health insurance is a must-have for diabetics; but picking the right policy is the key

Updated : May 20, 2019 02:28 PM IST

The treatment for diabetes related ailments such as heart disease, kidney disease and hypertension is expensive and prolonged.

Owing to one’s dependency on insulin injections on a daily basis, few insurers include that in the scope of coverage.

Diabetes is a chronic condition. This essentially means that the person diagnosed with diabetes has to adjust to the demands of the illness and the therapy used to treat it for the rest of their life. Diabetes affects various key functions of a person’s body as it impacts the ability to process sugar due to irregular insulin production.

The number of people being diagnosed with diabetes is increasing exponentially in India, with a much higher incidence in urban geographies as compared to rural areas. There are many factors which are contributing to the rise of diabetes but unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyle are considered major causes, so much so that it is not uncommon to see Type 2 diabetes afflicting teenagers, generally those who are obese or overweight.

The treatment for diabetes related ailments such as heart disease, kidney disease and hypertension is expensive and prolonged. In cognisance of this, some health insurance companies don’t just look at covering diabetes as part of standard health insurance plans but have also launched plans specifically tailored for diabetic patients, since diabetes-related ailments require specific and relevant coverages. For example, owing to one’s dependency on insulin injections as a way to control the illness on a daily basis, few insurers include that in the scope of coverage. Futhermore, unlike other insurance products, these plans offer a shorter wait-period of just two years to cover pre-existing ailments as diabetics who enrol might have one or more existing comorbidities.

It has also been observed that most people opt for an insurance at a progressed age and by then usually suffer from some or the other lifestyle-based illness – most common one being hypertension and diabetes. To ease the process for such individuals to get coverage, these plans offer enrolment without any pre-policy medical check-ups.

Care Freedom, which is a diabetes insurance product by Religare health insurance, not only accepts enrolment of individuals who take insulin, but also people who might be suffering from other diseases such as a mental disorders, anxiety and autism. Care Freedom also offers lifelong renewability which is an imperative feature considering that diabetes is a life-long disease which at best can be managed but not cured.

While many people are not aware about this, high-risk plans also come with high co-payments. Co-payment is the money which the insured person has to pay out of their own pocket in case of a claim. Diabetes is a high-risk disease and thus the insurance plans associated with it usually have high co-payments which can go as high as 50 percent; Care Freedom has capped co-pay at just 30 percent.

Since fast-paced stressful lifestyles combined with increasing pollution in urban cities have given way to a host of non-communicable diseases, which are both expensive and complex to treat, health insurance is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Similarly, in the case of diabetes, whether it is genetic or environmental, having an insurance policy is always a good thing as it allows one to receive good quality treatment when they require it the most.

Anuj Gulati is MD and CEO of Religare Health Insurance.

Health insurance is a must-have for diabetics; but picking the right policy is the key

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