What is Cashless Health Insurance in India?

Introduction:

A health crisis brings a lot of emotional, physical, and financial consequences. Even if you are doing well in life, accessing quality healthcare can cause a dent in your lifetime earnings. During such a time, the last thing you need is to arrange cash and search for finances. Timely treatment and immediate access to healthcare become the need of the hour. That is why you need a health insurance policy and precisely a cashless health insurance policy.

What is cashless health insurance?

Cashless health insurance is a type of health insurance where the insurer agrees to settle the insured's medical bills without having them pay anything at the time of claim settlement. The insured gets two options at the time of buying the health insurance policy. Either they can let the insurer take care of the medical bills at the time of claim settlement. Or they can pay at the time of claim settlement and get the costs reimbursed by the insurer later on. If they opt for cashless health insurance, they can walk into any network hospitals listed under the health insurance policy. Then the insurer takes care of the necessary medical expenses.

How does cashless health insurance work?

For a cashless health insurance policy to work, the insured must take steps before beginning their treatment or availing services at a hospital.

1. They must first pick a network hospital from the insurer's list of associated hospitals.
2. They must inform the insurer about the hospitalization 48 hours before the date of admission if they opt for planned hospitalization. If they require emergency hospitalization, they must inform the insured at least 24 hours before the date of hospitalization.
3. Once they inform the insurer, they have to fill a pre-authorization form and submit any necessary documents to the insurer's representative or a third-party administrator (TPA). The records include identity proof, prescriptions, health insurance policy documents, and the like.  
4. The TPA then verifies the pre-authorization form and the submitted documents. If the details are correct, the TPA approves the pre-authorization form and the cashless claim health insurance.

Additional Read: What is Life Insurance? What are its Coverages?

What are the benefits of cashless health insurance?

A cashless health insurance policy has several benefits:

• You can save time and get immediate treatment in the face of a health scare
• You do not have to worry about arranging large amounts of cash and can get treatment without paying anything  
• You get guaranteed good quality healthcare as the insurer chooses premier and reputable hospitals in their network list
• You also get value-added services like health guidance from certified medical professionals and annual consults
• You save time on documentation as compared to a reimbursement health claim

Additional Read: What is Insurance all about?

To sum it up: Should you opt for cashless health insurance?

Opting for a cashless health insurance policy gives you the benefit of maximum convenience. It saves you the hassle of spending extra time arranging finances and filling forms in the face of a medical emergency. If you have ample funds to access quality healthcare in the time of need, you can choose reimbursement health insurance. But if you want the comfort of knowing you can walk into the nearest network hospital without having to go through formalities, cashless health insurance is your best bet. Before you select a cashless health insurance policy, make sure you compare the ones available to find the best cashless health insurance policy.