What Is Health Insurance Card? Know Why You Need It

With the season changing from monsoon to winter, there is an increase in the chances of an outbreak of seasonal diseases. This also leads to frequent trips to the doctor. While you may feel like your lifestyle and fitness habits can keep you immune from viral outbreaks, you could be mistaken. A medical emergency can happen suddenly and can catch you off guard. The cost of medical treatment could put a strain on your finances. Having medical insurance can help you take care of those costs. However, having a health insurance card can be even more beneficial. Continue reading to know more about this feature and the benefits you can enjoy with it. *

What is health insurance?

Health insurance is a type of policy that assists you with taking care of the expenses incurred during your hospitalisation or that of your loved one. The expenses that would be covered depend on the policy and its sum insured. * There are different types of policies in this category such as family health insurance, senior citizen medical insurance, and critical illness insurance. Each type provides different benefits and the sum insured varies as well.

What is a health insurance card?

During a medical emergency, if you have health insurance policy, you can use it to take care of the hospitalisation expenses. However, you would be required to carry the policy document and all the paperwork related to it, which can be a burden. In such situations, having a health insurance card can make the process quicker for you. What is this card? This card is the digital form of your medical insurance. It contains all the details pertaining to your identity and your policy. For example, if your partner gets hospitalised for a minor medical procedure and the total cost of treatment is Rs.50,000, your medical insurance will cover this cost with the sum insured offered to you under the policy. However, if you have a health insurance card, this process becomes quicker and seamless. When you submit your card to the hospital, the details mentioned on the card will help them get an idea about the coverage of your policy. If the hospital offers cashless treatment, that would be an added benefit for you as the medical bill would be taken care of directly by your insurer. *

What is in the health insurance card?

The card contains details related to you and your policy. Your contact information, your policy number, date of issuing and expiry, and the amount of sum insured are some of the details that you might find on the card. This helps the hospital in gaining correct information about your policy before your claim gets processed. As the card is issued by your insurer, the chances of any details being wrong are very low. With the card, there is no paper mess either. Having to carry physical copies of your policy document can be a task. The card, instead, simply negates the need of having to carry any physical copies. With the information given on the card, the respective hospital can just access the necessary information and proceed with the billing and claim. *

How to get the card?

It is quite easy to get your health insurance card. Most insurers provide the card when you purchase your policy from them. However, it would still benefit you to ask for the card from your insurer yourself. If you purchase an individual policy, only you would get the card. But, if you have a family floater plan, each member covered under the policy would get a separate card with their details present on it.

Things to keep in mind:

1. Cashless benefits can be claimed only at network hospitals. If the treatment takes place at a hospital outside of the network, you would be required to pay for the expenses, with the insurer offering a reimbursement for it. *
2. Keep the card safeguarded as important details related to you and your policy are mentioned in it. If misplaced, it can be misused by miscreants.
3. Always make sure that the hospital where the treatment is taking place offers a cashless facility and is in your insurer’s network of hospitals.

* Standard T&C Apply

Conclusion

This is how you can benefit with the help of this card. If you wish to know more about the card or about the benefits of health insurance, you can get in touch with your insurer. Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms, and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale. *Standard T&C apply