5 Step Guide To Tackle Medical Crisis
Dealing with a medical crisis that afflicts you or your spouse or a loved one is never easy. It doesn’t just leave a scar on your body, but leaves you drained emotionally and possibly even financially.
Take a heart ailment for instance, treating which can be very expensive, in the region of Rs. 1.5 lakhs - Rs. 3 lakhs, depending on whether surgery is involved.
Now where is a regular family going to mobilize funds of that magnitude in an emergency?
So it helps to have a step-by-step guide to take you through the maze of questions and challenges following a medical crisis.
- Confirm the diagnosis
Getting a confirmation of the diagnosis is the starting point of the treatment plan. Then go through the insurance coverage as also your ready finances (money in savings account, short-term fixed deposits, liquid funds) to calculate whether you have the funds to tackle the medical crisis.
- Insurance plan must have no surprises
Make sure your health insurance plan (Mediclaim) covers everything it says it covers. A good way to confirm this is by checking with your support group for similar cases that were honoured by the insurance company or not honoured for some reason. Then check with your insurance agent for more inputs. Also, make sure you understand the exclusion clause - these are instances of medical crisis that the insurance company has explicitly stated that it will not cover, like a pre-existing illness for example.
- Does your insurance plan cover critical illnesses?
One way to be better prepared for medical emergencies is by opting for a health cover/mediclaim that offers flexibility in terms of coverage and disbursal. Many health insurance/general insurance companies cover several common critical illnesses and surgical procedures.
This way the family has a better chance of meeting the financial demands of diseases/ailments like;
1. Cancer
2. Angioplasty
3. Heart attack
4. Kidney failure
5. Chronic lung disease
- Maintain all the records
Keep a file with all records of the medical emergency neatly sorted by date. Begin with the initial doctor’s appointment right upto post-operation documents/bills. Insurance companies usually reimburse expenses upto two months post-operation.
- Build an emergency fund
Although a health cover is a must in the family’s insurance portfolio, there is another way to meet a medical emergency head-on, financially speaking.
With so much uncertainties around, an emergency fund is a must-have for every responsible individual looking to support himself and his family during a financial crisis. The financial crisis could be triggered by a medical emergency or loss of job or urgent repairs to the house.
Typically, an emergency fund has money equaling six months of regular expenses, to help the family tide over financial woes.
For instance, if a family has a monthly income of Rs. 50,000, its emergency fund should have Rs. 3,00,000 (Rs lakhs) ready at any point of time. This way if there is an urgent demand for money to say treat a heart attack to a family member, the family is well-placed to meet the expense.
With health insurance cover and prudent financial planning via savings in an emergency fund, families can take a more proactive approach to meeting the financial demands of medical emergency.
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