As I wait for the final claim amount, a tad under $1000 to be approved and credited to my account, I'm just happy that I made a wise decision of getting an excellent health insurance cover in India.

This is a topic I would have preferred not to write because most may find it boring. But, if truth be told, a lack of good health insurance plan or being under-insured is the worst thing you could probably do to yourself today!

Over these past 4 months, I've had two surgeries, 2 months of physiotherapy, several lab-tests and on-going medications, resulting in nearly $8000 in expenses. But my health insurance plan took care of almost 90% of the costs, more if this payout comes through.

My health insurance plan from Religare Health Insurance in India costs me a very reasonable $105 yearly premium at my current age of 29 years. It provides a starting health cover value of $15500 (INR, 1 million) which goes up a certain percentage annually (if there is no claims) to a total cover of $38600 (INR, 2.5 million) over 5 years (provided zero claims were made over 5 years), without an increase in the premium amount paid.

Religare's CARE II plan as they call it was the best I could get 2 years ago when I was considering purchasing a health insurance cover. I plan on increasing my base cover slightly when I am up for renewal at 31 years of age.

As you can tell a badly timed incident was mitigated easily with a good health cover!

Why Health Insurance is Important?

I've got excellent, world class medical care in my city as it's a hub for education, medical as well as engineering! I'm also lucky as I live 4 minutes from one of the best hospitals in my city with some of the best doctors in the industry.

But for many this isn't the case. Even if it is the case, the cost of medical care is so expensive. You'd think India being an 'emerging nation' would have it cheap. If I didn't have my financial planning and health insurance in order I could have gone into a financial crisis; and many people do!

We never intend or hope to fall sick or get hurt in an accident but it can happen. Having an health insurance cover protects you against these contingencies with some great benefits. Any unexpected costs are usually taken care off and you get to access good facilities and hospital care that you truly deserve!

Lack of an insurance plan can burden you and your family for years to come. It would be unwise to ignore it for long!

But is Health Insurance a Ponzi Scheme?

I find myself often asking this question.

Clearly insurance companies pocket more than they reimburse their customers. Some doctors feel that commercial insurance is one of the greatest pyramid schemes that could exist today.

This is because insurance companies across the world systematically deny legitimate claims many times.

For as many good stories there exist about my choice of insurer there are also as many negative experiences. That's pretty much the industry standard anywhere in the world.

But the question is can we survive without insurance? If you are wealthy beyond measure, perhaps then so. The common man unfortunately needs to rely on this double edged sword!

Health Insurance in the United States of America

Health insurance in the states dates back several decades. Today, as I understand patients pay monthly premiums or fees to be able to visit a doctor or hospital. US also enacted the affordable health care or Obamacare as it is known. Feels a bit complicated to me. But you can read more about the American health insurance here and yet many people are bankrupted by the HUGE costs of treatments.

I find it unfortunate that a global leader isn't able to solve the healthcare crisis with all the technological developments and infrastructure it has in place! A little more information on how US healthcare works!

US also has the obamacare and insurance laws and policies are quite confusing. If you want to learn more about Obamacare which I think the new Trump administration is planning to do away with then you can read here.

Health Insurance in Europe

Europe does things a little differently but it is similar to the UK. Atleast for some of the countries such as France, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. Many nations have a social welfare hospital which takes care of people and these apparently take good care of people. It's a vast subject and you can read more here!

Health Insurance in India

The health insurance industry was kicked off in India in the mid-1980s. It has become quite popular in the last decade however a small percentage of my country's GDP is actually spent on the health sector. Less than 5% infact. More information is available here.

Most are fine assuming and living in false sense of hope that they will never need a health cover! It took me a year to convince my mother that she needs an excellent health cover (she has had a half-decent policy until then) that she has today (even as she's never needed to use it) and it's worth paying for it even as I got her to enrol for it. She understood it's importance as I got out of my first surgery!

Indians are amongst the most under Insured!

Despite increasing penetration of insurance and savings schemes, only 10% of the Indian population is insured a large portion of my country's population is grossly under-insured or not insured at all. The government is always under pressure owing to the increasing population and it's unlikely that we'll ever see a social security system that compares to the west in the security or atleast the perceived security it provides.

I can't imagine going through life without a contingency plan. A health and life insurance must be at the forefront of your financial planning at all times.

Let's Talk!

Would you consider answering these five questions in the comments below?

Do you have a health Insurance?
Why haven't you purchased one yet?
Does your government provide you with the facility or
Do you subscribe to a private health cover that you can avail at hospital of your choice?
How much insurance premium do you pay towards your annual cover?

I did not have any personal health cover of my own until the age of 27 and I feel foolish for not getting one sooner. Better late than never eh?

Thank you for your attention and support!

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LetsTalk—Why An Excellent Health Insurance Is a Necessity and How It Saved My Ass!