A look at which health insurance policy you should take to fight coronavirus

With new variants of the coronavirus covid-19 coming to fore, one thing is quite clear that COVID-19 is going to linger around for a long time. While we take necessary precautions to keep ourselves safe, that might not be enough. We also need a health insurance policy so that we have something to fall back on in case of any emergency.

The next obvious question is which is the best policy to buy against coronavirus. Given that there are several choices available in the market, the challenge is to pick the right one. Here is a lowdown on different types of health plans available in the market:

Basic/Comprehensive Health Insurance Policy

As we never know what future has in store for us, it makes sense to buy a basic policy which gives much wider coverage against all kind of illnesses and not just one. Hence, as the first layer of protection do buy an indemnity policy that pays your medical bills in case of hospitalisation due to any illness or accident. 

Corona Kavach

While a full fledged policy covers all illnesses, a disease specific plan covers a particular disease with much wider coverage. For example, the basic policy generally does not cover expenses incurred on treatment of any co-morbidity, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or home treatment cost if the person catches Coronavirus. Corona Kavach policy on the other hand covers almost everything from co-morbidities, PPE to home quarantine. It is an indemnity policy, which reimburses medical bills on hospitalisation, and is available for short term period of 3 ½ months, 6 ½ months and 9 ½ months.

Corona Rakshak

This is a benefit policy which means a lump sum benefit equal to 100% of the Sum Insured is payable on positive diagnosis of COVID-19. But remember that these policies make payment only after hospitalization for a minimum continuous period of 72 hours and the policy stops after the payment of 100% of sum insured.  

Money9 Take: It is advisable to buy a basic/comprehensive health insurance policy as the first layer of protection as this will give you a much wider coverage not only against Coronavirus but also other illnesses and pandemics. Once you have a comprehensive policy you can go for a second layer of protection with Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak as they give much wider coverage.