Page 163 - IC38 GENERAL INSURANCE

1. HOSPITAL DAILY CASH POLICY

a) Per day amount limit

Hospital cash coverage provides a fixed sum to the insured person for each
day of hospitalization. Per day cash coverage could vary from (for example)
Rs. 1,500 per day to Rs. 5,000 or even more per day. An upper limit is
provided on the daily cash payout per illness as well as for the duration of
the policy, which is usually an annual policy.

b) Number of payment days

In some of the variants of this policy, the number of days of daily cash
allowed is linked to the disease for which treatment is being taken. A
detailed list of treatments and duration of stay for each is stipulated which
limits the daily cash benefit allowed for each type of procedure/ illness.

c) Standalone cover or add-on cover

The hospital daily cash policy is available as a standalone policy as offered
by some insurers while, in other cases, it is an add-on cover to a regular
indemnity policy. These policies help the insured to cover incidental
expenses as the payout is a fixed sum and not related to the actual cost of
treatment. This also allows the payout under the policy to be provided in
addition to any cover received under an indemnity based health insurance
plan.

d) Supplementary cover

These policies could supplement a regular hospital expenses policy as it is
cost effective and provides compensation for incidental expenses and also
expenses not payable under the indemnity policy such as exclusions, co-pay
etc.

e) Other advantages of the cover

From the insurer‟s point of view, this plan has several advantages as it is
easy to explain to a customer and hence can be sold more easily. It beats
medical inflation as a fixed sum per day is paid for the duration of
hospitalization whatever may be the actual expense. Also, acceptance of
such insurance covers and claims settlements are really simplified.

2. CRITICAL ILLNESS POLICY

This product is also known as the dreaded disease cover or a trauma care
cover.

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