Back up plan before denial of Health Insurance

People may reject the health insurance policies due to a host of reasons like age, lifestyle diseases, poor health and so on. However, there are still few applications turned down due to following reasons: Organ donation A person who had donated his/her kidney is unlikely to be eligible for a health cover. “This, despite the fact that the donor can perform all routine activities without any hurdles,” says Lalitha Raghuram, country director, Mohan Foundation, an NGO involved in promoting organ donation. “Such cases, except liver transplants, are treated as an impaired health condition and hence cover cannot be granted,” says Nikhil Apte, Chief Product Officer, Product Factory (health insurance), Royal Sundaram General Insurance. Liver transplant is an exception as unlike other organs, it can regain its original size and capacity. Cardiac ailments Financial planner Bhakti Rasal mentions a case where her 42-year-old client’s application for health cover was rejected because he had undergone a surgery to rectify atrial septal defect  when he was 13. “The surgical closure of the hole in the heart was done 30 years ago. The patient, in such cases, enjoys a normal life and usually never suffers any illness because of this ailment. In this case, he is a sportsperson. Yet, the cover was denied by two private health insurers after submission of past medical records,” she explains. Cancer survivors The chances of surviving cancer have grown brighter over the years. However, even after getting cured and crossing of 5 year old servival threshold a person cannot buy a fresh health cover.  “Most of these will get rejected under retail plans as it is believed that they compromise the immunity and the normal functioning of the human body and that the chances of such persons falling ill or contracting some aliments are higher,” says Jayesh Gadekar, Head, Health and Benefits, Innovative Solutions, Global Insurance Brokers. Such individuals, therefore, will have to look for another back-up plan to cushion the impact of rising healthcare inflation. In following ways, the risks of no-insurance can be mitigated: Start early Try to secure your health as early as possible “Even if there is a situation in future where you have to, say, donate an organ, you will be covered as policies come with lifelong renewal clause,” says Apte. Bank on group covers Sign up for such policies where you have little to be worried about pre existing diseases, like corporate health policy, even it means funding part of, or even the entire, premium. “Being a part of a group insurance program is the best alternative as of now. It is also advisable to go for a top-up plan offered by corporates,” says Gadekar. Under such plans, employees are offered voluntary top-ups to enhance the base group cover. Employees are usually allowed to continue with such add-ons even after they quit their organisations. Personal Accident Policy A personal accident policy cannot compensate for lack of health cover, but it can foot bills for accidents and consequent disabilities. “In this case, the applicant’s income, and not health background, comes into the picture. You can opt for a personal accident plan to safeguard against accident risks,” says Rasal. Healthcare corpus All individuals are ought to take this measure, but it is simply indispensable for those with adverse health conditions.