How to Meet Out of Pocket Expenses with Daily Hospital Cash Plans?

Many people buy health insurance only to cover their hospitalisation cost. However, you must also consider other expenses when opting for a health cover.

Out of Pocket Expenses

Hospitalisation incurs several expenses that are outside the scope of hospital bills. There are certain non-admissible expenses like documentation charges, establishment charges, AC charges, attendant charges and many more, which the insurer doesn’t reimburse.

Apart from these, there are other expenses related to eatables, dietary supplements and commuting of family members and relatives. Some policies even have a restriction of a certain percentage to be paid by the insurer and the remaining by the person insured from his own pocket.

Daily Hospital Cash Plans: How They Work?

Complete health insurance plans operate in a different manner than your regular Mediclaim plans. In a DHC plan, you get the reimbursement based on the number of days spent in the hospital irrespective of the hospitalisation expense. For instance, if someone spends 5 days in a hospital and his hospitalisation expense is ₹ 10,000 with a daily cash benefit of ₹ 1,000. Then, he will get both the ₹ 10,000 cover for medical expenses and ₹ 5,000 for 5 days spent in the hospital.

The amount of daily expense varies with the sum insured. For instance, ICICI Lombard offers daily hospital cash on hospitalisation for a minimum period of 3 days and subject to a maximum of 10 consecutive days in the following manner:

You can also claim your Mediclaim and DHC plans simultaneously. The actual pay-out in a DHC plan is also subjected to the nature of hospitalisation, and someone who is admitted in an ICU or had to undergo a major surgery is likely to get higher pay-outs which will further depend on the policy provider.

Are They Really Worth Buying?

Mediclaim policies usually come with a No Claim Bonus (NCB) amount. In case you fall ill and are hospitalised for 4 days but your medical expenses are not too high, then you can bear them using your DHC plan without using your Mediclaim policy. This will keep your NCB intact for future use.

DHC plans are a great supplement of Mediclaim plans and are absolutely worth buying, but should never be considered a replacement of Mediclaim plans. Mediclaim plans should always be the first layer of defence and DHC plans shall be used as the next layer.