Looking to buy health insurance? Keep these documents handy

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We all know the importance of health insurance in our daily lives. Now more than ever, in fact. At the time of any medical emergency, an adequate insurance provides a much needed financial back up. With galloping cost of medical treatment and hospital expenses, one must have sufficient health insurance coverage to ensure propert medical care. While a huge number of health insurance policies are offered by different companies, the government is also giving tax benefits to promote health insurance among common people.

With the availability of several kinds of health insurance plans, it becomes essential to understand the  policy basics and documents required to buy a good insurance cover of your choice. Here we list some of the key documents that will be needed as and when you opt to buy a health cover. You can save enough time by keeping the basic paperwork ready beforehand.

Age proof

One of the key documents needed for purchasing health insurance is the applicant’s age proof. In fact, the age proof of every family members to be insured under the health insurance policy is also required. Here’s a list of documents that can is acceptable by the insurance companies to prove the age of insured members.

– Birth certificate – Passport – 10th or 12th mark sheet – Aadhaar card – Driving license – Voter’s ID – PAN card

Address proof

The insurers usually demand for the applicant’s permanent address proof aas well. Following documents can be submitted to comply for the same.

– Aadhaar card – Telephone bill – Electricity bill – Passport – Ration card – Driving license – Voter’s ID

Identity proof

As far as identity proof is concerned, one can provide their Aadhaar card, Voter ID, passport, PAN Card, and/or driving license. Other than these, passport size photographs of the customer are also required for processing the application. Some insurers can demand the applicants to undergo mandatory medical tests to identify any pre-existing illness too.

Documents required for claim purposes

During the pandemic, several people were unable to apply for cashless treatment due to an unprecendented health emergency. Nobody had the time to find a network hospital as the healthcare infrastructure was already in shatters due to excessive load of patients. In case of a reimbursement claim, you will have to submit all the essential documents including bills, test reports, prescriptions, etc. to your health insurer.

Reimbursement claim

Here is the list of documents that you require to file for reimbursement health insurance claims in case cashless isn’t an option.

– Original claim form duly completed along with your signature – Valid identity proof – Doctor’s prescription suggesting treatment in hospital – Doctor’s prescription advising diagnostic tests, medicines, and consultation – Indoor case papers – Ambulance receipt – Original pharmacy bills – First Information Report(FIR), as required – Policy details that include the policy number, name of the insured,  address, and disease for which treatment is on – Additional documents that may be required to assess the claim, in case there is a fraud

Upon successful verification of the above mentioned documents, the claim amount will be transferred to your registered bank account.

Cashless treatment

However, the documents required for cashless claims in a network hospital are different from the ones required for registering a reimbursement claim. Here are the documents required for cashless treatments.

– Claim pre-authorisation form – Valid ID proof and a photograph – PAN Card, Voter ID, Driving License, and Aadhar card

Unlike reimbursement claims,  you don’t need to worry about submitting any medical documents or bills to the health insurance company in case of cashless treatment. The network hospital itself sends all the required documents and treatment details to the insurance provider.