Suffering from chronic disease? Here’s how to get insurance

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Health insurance is a necessity. People may not have realised this earlier, but are convinced about it in the post-Covid-19 world. The challenging bit, however, remains that insurance is not readily available to those who badly need it. People suffering from pre-existing diseases may have to settle for long waiting period or at worst chronic diseases may become a reason for rejection of policy proposal. What to do when this happens? Money9 Helpline received following query on the similar issue:

Query

I’m a father of a three-year old and my spouse is a housewife. Unfortunately, I suffer from hemophilia-A. I have been hunting for a suitable health insurance policy for a long-time, but mostly all health insurance companies have declined my policy proposal for insurance. I have a corporate insurance cover for Rs 3 lakh. What option do I have to cover myself and my family?

– Mohit Kashyap

We approached Mahavir Chopra, founder, Beshak.org, an online community on everything insurance, to discuss the options if getting a health plan becomes challenging.

Expert view

People suffering from lifelong diseases do find it tricky to get health insurance cover — especially after insurance regulator Irdai has restricted the list of illnesses where insurers can apply permanent exclusions, and offer insurance for other diseases. There are more than twenty-five insurance companies that offer health insurance policies. I would hence recommend not giving up hope, and be persistent in your search for health insurance. You would be able to get coverage if you keep looking.

In your search, ensure you do approach Star Health and Allied Insurance, and government insurance companies which have been known to be slightly more flexible in providing insurance coverage to people with chronic diseases. If nothing works, as a last resort, try insurance from group health policies offered by your credit card, or your bank or financial applications on your phone. Due to relaxed norms in some of these group policies, you may be able to get through a health cover.

You may also consider buying a separate family floater health insurance policy for your child and wife.