Myth 1: My employer covers my health insurance liability
Your employers aren’t doing you a favour by giving you a health insurance. They are saving their own skin. So in that line of thought, with premiums increasing by the day, most companies just reimburse your health insurance premium. And if you don’t have a policy, the question of reimbursement does not arise. Assuming your employer does have a group health insurance plan which is applicable till you are an employee, what happens when you leave the job early? You would be without a cover and if in the interim, if an unfortunate incident were to happen, where would you be? Another point. Suppose you superannuate from a job which gave you a group cover, what would be your chance of getting a new cover when you are way above 50? You would either have to stay without a cover or would have got one at exorbitant premiums.

Myth 2: Smokers and those who drink don’t get a cover.
WRONG. You do get a cover, it’s just that the premiums are steep to take care of the obvious risk arising out of alcohol and/ or tobacco consumption.

Myth 3: I am fit and I am sure I don’t need a health insurance
Congratulations for remaining fit. But what if at the very gate of your gym/ sports area, you slip and fall and need to be hospitalized for a critical injury? Would your fitness and related position without a health insurance policy be helpful? On the contrary, you could end-up spending precious money on something otherwise covered by normal health covers. Now, do you see light?

Myth 4: Health insurances pay you ONLY for health care which calls for hospitalization
Like every field where cost-cutting and better service is the norm, so too in the field of health-care. A while back a cataract operation needed stay of a minimum 24 hours in a hospital. Same was the case with lots of other procedures. Advances in health-care have reduced the time to a few hours. And the list is only getting longer. But this does not make the list of applicable/ reimbursable procedures shorter which means with the right healthcare policy, you can get covers for day-care procedures.

Myth 5: I intend to buy a health cover to cover my existing diseases/ problems
Free lunches sometimes cost more than paid ones. The same could apply to health covers. Other than unforeseen accidents which need immediate medical care, all other accidents/ diseases/ conditions have a minimum waiting time of 30 to 90 days. In the case of “pre-existing diseases/ conditions like diabetes, cardiac issues and others, most covers have a non-inclusion period extending from 12 to 48 months. That being the case, take the cover right now and when the opportune time comes, use it.

Myth 6: More the number of covered hospitals, better the cover!
This makes for great advertising stuff. The gullible DO fall for it. They think it’s only here that the policy shall work and nowhere else. What it actually means is that at these hospitals, you get cash-free service. At others, which presumably remain non-covered, one can still be treated, the only condition being that payment for the same be made upfront and the bills be presented later in agreed formats for reimbursements.