I have diabetes. Am I eligible for Health Insurance?
Diabetes is a chronic illness which can affect you for a lifetime. Many people are suffering from diabetes these days. One can bring changes in his lifestyle and do regular exercise to control his diabetes. If you are worried about medical treatment for diabetes, then you shall not.
Because now there are special health insurance plans provided by insurance companies that provide diabetes insurance coverage. These plans can be taken by people not suffering from diabetes as well as people suffering from diabetes. In this article, we will get into detail about diabetes and how insurance can help.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease caused when your blood glucose or blood sugar is too high. It is a chronic disease that affects your body in the manner that it turns food into energy.
Normally what happens is that what you eat gets converted into glucose. This glucose turns into energy with the help of a hormone called insulin in your body. But if you are affected by diabetes, then your body will either won’t produce insulin or it won’t use it properly. This will result in an increase in glucose levels in your blood.
These increased levels of glucose in your blood sugar can cause health issues like kidney disease, heart disease, vision loss etc. Diabetes can’t be cured. But reducing weight, eating healthy food and exercising regularly can help a lot in controlling diabetes.
What are the types of Diabetes?
There are three main types of diabetes. They are as follows:
- Type 1 Diabetes: When you are suffering from Type 1 Diabetes, then your body stops producing enough insulin. Due to this, your body needs a daily dose of insulin injection to balance your sugar levels.
- Type 2 Diabetes: Type 2 Diabetes is commonly found among people. It arises when your body is not able to make good use of the insulin that is produced. This generally occurs in people after the age of 30. A bad lifestyle is mainly responsible for this.
- Gestational Diabetes: This is a type of diabetes which is seen in pregnant women. The risk of high blood sugar level is seen and this can impact both mother and child.
India - The Diabetes Capital of the World
Diabetes is a much-talked-about disease all over the world. It is caused as the pancreas stops producing insulin. It results in increased sugar in the blood of a patient.
India is called the “Diabetes Capital of the World”. As per WHO, there are around 77 million people in India above 18 years of age suffering from diabetes (Type 2) and around 25 million are prediabetics (chances of getting diabetes in the near future). More than 50% of people don’t know about their diabetic status in India. Due to this, they are not being treated at an early stage.
Health Insurance for Diabetic Patients?
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder which occurs in a person due to high sugar levels or glucose levels in the body. It is a chronic disease which affects the body throughout your life. Diabetes can also lead to several other health issues related to the eyes, kidneys, heart, and nerves.
Due to this, it's necessary to have security against this illness. When you opt for health insurance plans you can mention diabetes as a pre-existence illness. So, it doesn’t matter if you have diabetes, you can still take health insurance from any insurance company.
You may have to pay a bit higher amount of premium. But no one can deny you insurance just because you have diabetes. But yes, you will get the benefit of insurance only after the completion of the waiting period.
Diabetes Health Insurance Plans
You can also opt for diabetes health insurance plans. It provides insurance plans that cover treatment for diabetes. It also covers all expenses incurred for the treatment of diabetes.
Some diabetes health policies cover type 1 diabetes, some cover type 2 and some cover both. This insurance plan covers in-patient hospitalization, room rent, ICU coverage, ambulance and more such expenses.
Eligibility for Diabetes Health Insurance
Let’s understand some of the eligibility criteria for diabetes health insurance:
- The age of the applicant shall be between 18 years to 65 years.
- Some insurance companies may ask you to go through a medical assessment to determine your current health condition.
- You need to disclose any pre-existing disease that you may have.
- If you are suffering from diabetes then the waiting period will be 2-4 years before any disease can be covered. If you are not suffering from any disease then the waiting period can be up to 3 months.
- Some policies may cover only Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
Conclusion
Patients with diabetes are increasing in India. And at times the treatment cost is too high. It's better to protect yourself by availing of diabetes health insurance or adding diabetes insurance coverage to the existing insurance plan.
Source Used:
https://www.who.int/india/health-topics/mobile-technology-for-preventing-ncds
