If you think you incur medical expenses only in a hospital, it's time you wake up and smell the coffee (we mean read this blog now)…
Getting hospitalised may take a toll on your emotional, physical and financial well-being. Doctors and nurses look after your physical well-being. Your friends and family will take care of your emotional well-being. But what about managing your finances?
When you’re down with an illness or need medical treatment, the first question that runs through your mind is, “How much is it gonna cost?” apart from “When will I be okay?” Your medical and healthcare expenses can rapidly deplete your savings and throw all your financial goals for a toss. It’s never a one-time expense. Once it starts, it never ends. Let’s understand the type of expenses you incur.
Hospitalisation expenses:
Hospitalisation expense is the bill you pay to the hospital for all their services towards their treatment. These expenses can include the costs for procedures and tests, medical supplies, bed costs, food charges if any and so on,
The average hospitalisation expense in 2004 in urban areas was around Rs. 8,850. It increased to around Rs. 26,500 by 2018. Thus, in 14 years, hospital expenses have shot up by 8% per annum. In rural areas, the expenses were Rs. 5,800 in 2004, rising to Rs. 16,650 in 2018.
These numbers only represent the expense when you’re at the hospital. What about the expenses before and after hospitalisation? Really? Do we spend money before and after hospital treatment? Let’s find out.
India’s out-of-pocket expenditure in 2017-18 stood at Rs. 2,76,532 crores. These same out-of-pocket expenses were responsible for pushing 55 million people into poverty in 2011-12.
Now let’s discuss what expenses come before and after hospitalisation. Let’s look at what comes under the purview of pre and post-hospitalisation expenses.
Pre-hospitalisation expenses:
All your medical expenses before your hospital admission are counted as pre-hospitalisation expenses. These expenses are incurred to diagnose your condition accurately, consult the doctor, take preventive medicines, and/or arrive at a diagnosis after numerous diagnostic tests.
Your doctor may prescribe certain medications to treat your condition or advise you to get hospitalised. Thus, even before you’re hospitalised, you are spending money on doctor consultation fees, diagnostic tests, medicines, and so on.
Whenever you’re getting a healthcare plan, it is important to check whether your service provider covers these costs or not. Usually, most providers cover these costs up to a certain limit (number of days). These are the expenses that comprise pre-hospitalisation expenses. It is important to consider that many times, these expenses might not be included in your healthcare plan if it is not from Kenko. You may end up paying from your pocket.
Post-hospitalisation expenses:
Post-hospitalisation expenses start right after you get discharged from the hospital. Getting discharged doesn’t always mean complete recovery. It merely means that you are on a path to recovery and you no longer need to be observed by the nurses and doctors at the hospital.
However, you may still be prescribed certain medicines, treatments, follow-up tests, and doctor consults. The money you spent on these overheads is clubbed under post-hospitalisation expenses.
Usually, healthcare plan providers cover up to 90 days of pre and post-hospitalisation expenses. And there are a lot of terms and conditions associated with it, making it a cumbersome process. However, with Kenko, you don’t need to worry about limits or exclusions. We cover all your medical expenses from day 0.
Benefits of having these expenses covered
Reduces financial stress
Allows you to not cut corners
Faster recovery
Not jeopardise your financial goals
Get the best treatment possible
How to claim these benefits?
Like any other service, you will also need to follow a procedure to claim these benefits. You will need to submit bills, prescriptions, discharge summaries, and other documents as required by the healthcare provider. Not just that, you will also have to follow up constantly and do a ton of paperwork.
Seems daunting, doesn't it? Well, it need not be! With Kenko, all you need to do is upload your documents and get your benefits upfront. Check our plans here.