Worldwide Health Insurance Covers.. 

Many health insurance companies, including Religare Health, Cigna TTK Insurance & Max Bupa, have started offering worldwide health cover as part of their premium, high-value health insurance policies. While Cigna TTK extends this cover to policyholders if they face medical emergencies, Religare Health and Max Bupa's covers come into play in case of a planned treatment of defined critical illnesses.

The latter also covers emergency medical evacuation. Experts feel companies are adding such products to their portfolio to differentiate themselves from others, and attract affluent customers.

Most of them believe a combination of travel insurance plus a regular health cover would be enough, and will also be a cheaper option. However, products that cover planned treatment abroad deserve a closer look, say experts.

“The idea is to leverage their foreign partners' presence and network of hospitals in other countries,“ says Mr. Sudhir Sarnobat, CEO, medimanage.com, a health insurance consultancy firm.

“Such products have limited use. You can always buy travel insurance to cover any medical emergencies you may face while travelling abroad. A combination of a travel cover & a simple health policy will work out to be cheaper than a high - value health product covering treatment abroad,“ he says.

Many critical illnesses that are covered do not necessitate treatment abroad, as many Indian hospitals are well-equipped.

“Why would you want to pay higher premium on a full-fledged health policy for a 15 to 20 day trip?“ asks Sarnobat.

Cigna TTK's product reimburses medical expenses up to the sum insured limit (maximum Rs. 10 lakh) incurred at hospitals abroad.

Max Bupa offers cashless facilities for treatment of nine specified critical illnesses, including cancer, heart attack, organ transplant and stroke. It also pays for any emergency medical evacuation when you are travelling. Religare Health's policy allows you to claim reimbursement for treatment taken abroad for critical illnesses, provided you intimate the company seven days in advance.

However, this facility is available if you choose a premium variant where the sum insured is between Rs.  50 to Rs. 60 lakh. So, if you were to be covered under policies that take care of medical treatment abroad, does it eliminate the need for a travel cover?

“The primary benefit is health cover under both, but most travel policies are better equipped to provide geography-specific coverage and have in-built coverage of emergency medical evacuation and repatriation benefits, which are very crucial when travelling abroad and may be exposed to such emergencies,“ says Mr. K K Mishra, CEO, Tata-AIG General.

Src: ET

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