Mediclaim
Mediclaim vs Critical Illness Policies - What’s the Difference?
There are various kinds of health insurance policies available in the market. The basic types are mediclaim policies (also called health insurance policies), critical illness policies, hospitalization cash benefit, unit-linked health insurance plans and senior citizens’ health plans.
A lot of people often get confused between general health plans (also called mediclaim policies) and critical illness policies. This post makes an attempt to clarify the difference between the two health insurance products:
Mediclaim vs Critical Illness Insurance Plans: A Comparison
1. Basic Feature: First, while mediclaim or health insurance policy is an indemnity policy i.e., it reimburses your actual medical expenses, critical illness policy is a defined benefit plan i.e., it gives you a lump sum on diagnosis of any of the pre-specified critical illnesses irrespective of your medical expenses. Put another way, for the purpose of critical illness policy, it is totally irrelevant whether you’re hospitalized or not and whether you incur any expenses on your medical treatment or not. The only requirement is diagnosis and not hospitalization.
2. Scope / Coverage: The second major difference between a health insurance policy and a critical illness policy is that while scope of health insurance or mediclaim policy is quite wide, critical illness policies are restricted in coverage.
Mediclaim policies usually cover the entire gamut of ailments except pre-existing diseases and certain other treatments such as maternity and pregnancy, dental treatment etc., the critical illness policies, on the other hand, cover only certain specified diseases like cancer, stroke, renal (kidney) failure, heart attack, major organ transplant, multiple sclerosis and paralysis. The exact critical ailments covered differ from insurer to insurer but are usually in the range of 6 to 12 diseases.
3. Purpose: Another key distinction
There are various kinds of health insurance policies available in the market. The basic types are mediclaim policies (also called health insurance policies), critical illness policies, hospitalization cash benefit, unit-linked health insurance plans and senior citizens’ health plans.
A lot of people often get confused between general health plans (also called mediclaim policies) and critical illness policies. This post makes an attempt to clarify the difference between the two health insurance products:
Mediclaim vs Critical Illness Insurance Plans: A Comparison
1. Basic Feature: First, while mediclaim or health insurance policy is an indemnity policy i.e., it reimburses your actual medical expenses, critical illness policy is a defined benefit plan i.e., it gives you a lump sum on diagnosis of any of the pre-specified critical illnesses irrespective of your medical expenses. Put another way, for the purpose of critical illness policy, it is totally irrelevant whether you’re hospitalized or not and whether you incur any expenses on your medical treatment or not. The only requirement is diagnosis and not hospitalization.
2. Scope / Coverage: The second major difference between a health insurance policy and a critical illness policy is that while scope of health insurance or mediclaim policy is quite wide, critical illness policies are restricted in coverage.
Mediclaim policies usually cover the entire gamut of ailments except pre-existing diseases and certain other treatments such as maternity and pregnancy, dental treatment etc., the critical illness policies, on the other hand, cover only certain specified diseases like cancer, stroke, renal (kidney) failure, heart attack, major organ transplant, multiple sclerosis and paralysis. The exact critical ailments covered differ from insurer to insurer but are usually in the range of 6 to 12 diseases.
3. Purpose: Another key distinction