Hospital Daily Cash

• A hospital daily cash policy, or hospicash policy, is an add-on benefit combined with the base health insurance coverage for a slightly higher premium.

• Under this add-on benefit, if you are admitted to a hospital for a few days over 24 hours for any medical treatment, the insurer will provide the policyholder with a fixed daily cash compensation to cover day-to-day financial expenses that are not covered by the base health insurance plan.

• The amount that you can get as a daily hospital cash allowance is decided at the time of buying the policy. You can use this daily cash to meet your overhead costs and other expenses while you are undergoing treatment at a hospital.

• The daily cash that you will receive from your insurer will be irrespective of the actual healthcare expenses that you may incur during your stay at the hospital. These can include food expenses, stay expenses other than room tariffs, etc.

• For example, you may need consumables during your hospital stay or require money to support your dependent family members while you are unable to work due to treatment. In such situations, a health insurance policy with daily hospital cash benefits can fulfil such requirements for the policyholder.

Inclusions Under Hospicash Policy Cover

• You can use your hospital daily cash to meet other expenses (apart from the hospital bills) that you may incur during your stay at a hospital. These may include:

• The cost of consumables, such as gloves, masks, syringes, etc.

• To and fro travel expenses from the hospital

• Cost of hiring a personal attendant

• Your family’s living expenses till you are able to earn again

Exclusions Under Hospicash Policy Cover

• Other than the inclusions mentioned above, some of the exclusions under the hospicash policy add-on benefit include -

• Pre-existing diseases requiring medical attention.

• Hospital treatments before the waiting period clause (no daily cash allowance would be provided if hospitalisation takes place before the waiting period is over).

• Self-inflicted injuries

• Plastic or cosmetic surgeries

• Fertility treatments, post and pre-pregnancy.

• OPD treatments

• Treatments under 24 hours or daycare treatments.

• Ayurvedic, homoeopathy or other such non-allopathic treatments.

• Treatments crossing the maximum coverage days under this add-on benefit in one policy year.

Potential Tenure and Limit of Hospital Daily Cash Benefit Policy

• The tenure of a daily hospital cash policy may vary from one insurer to another. Usually, it ranges between 15 to 45 days. To know the exact tenure of the hospital daily cash plan that you have purchased, you must check with your insurer. This information is usually provided in the policy document in fine print, so read it carefully.

• The daily hospital cash allowance that you will receive depends upon the amount chosen by you while buying the policy. It usually ranges from ₹500 to ₹10,000. In some cases, the daily hospital cash allowance is mentioned as a percentage of the sum insured.

• For example, if you have purchased a health insurance policy with a daily hospital cash allowance of 1% of the sum insured, and the total sum insured of your policy is ₹5 lakhs, the daily cash you would receive in the event of your hospitalisation is ₹5,000.

Compensation for all additional expenses

Even though your medical insurance policy will cover all healthcare expenses incurred by you during a medical emergency, you may incur some additional expenses that won’t be covered. Such expenses are known as inadmissible expenses. A daily hospital cash plan provides a daily lump sum that can be used to cover all such expenses.

Coverage above the sum insured

In case your hospital bills are more than the sum insured by your health insurance policy, you can use the money received as a daily cash allowance to pay the extra amount.

Preserves your NCB

If you are hospitalised for a minor complication where your hospital bills are not so high, you can avoid claiming your health insurance policy to preserve your No Claim Bonus (NCB). In such a case, you can use your daily hospital cash benefit to pay your hospital bills and, in turn, enjoy premium discounts at the time of policy renewal.

The benefits of the daily cash benefit policy add-on allow you to enjoy peace of mind with the availability of added financial assistance when stuck in a hospital due to treatment. This makes this add-on beneficial for everyone.

However, this add-on is especially beneficial for the following people -

Families - Hospitalisation of the sole earning member within a family can often cause distress and financial gaps for the family members. For individuals with a dependent family for daily expenses, choosing hospicash insurance can be helpful to extend financial assistance.

Self-employed Professionals - All individuals working for a regular 9-5 job with limited or no paid leaves might skip medical treatments till the last minute due to the risk of income loss. However, with the help of the daily cash benefit policy, they can benefit from sufficient funds to compensate for the income loss.

Policyholders with High Deductibles - For policyholders with high deductibles, the daily cash allowance compensation can help cover medical expenses until the insurer's coverage kicks in.

Waiting Period - One of the initial considerations to check for to choose the best hospital daily cash policy is the waiting period. Many health insurance plans come with a specific waiting period, after which the hospicash benefit kicks in.

Thus, when choosing a health insurance provider with this add-on, pick the one with a shorter waiting period.

Number of Coverage Days - Under this add-on benefit, most insurers have a fixed number of compensation days in a year for which the policyholder will receive daily compensation. Therefore, when choosing a plan, go for the plan that offers the maximum number of days of coverage to meet your specific needs.

Daily Hospital Cash Amount - The compensation range of daily cash amount under this add-on can range from anywhere between ₹500 to ₹10,000. Thus, based on your specific requirements to cover out-of-pocket expenses during hospitalisation, choose an insurer that offers the best daily cash limit.

Insurer Reputation - When you buy health insurance online, you must always look at the online reviews and testimonials and check for available customer support with an insurer. Based on this evaluation, you can choose the one with positive reviews for maximum convenience and support.

When choosing a health insurance policy, the choice of an insurance provider is very crucial. The need for a valid health insurance policy is at its peak today with the increasing healthcare costs in the country.

Health insurance plans from Tata AIG are designed considering individuals' different requirements and budget constraints. Moreover, we offer ample customisation flexibility with a range of add-ons to meet different people's specific needs. We also offer critical illness insurance to extend financial assistance to those who require it for life-threatening illnesses.

Moreover, for maximum convenience, our easy-to-use website allows you to purchase and renew health insurance plans online in just a few steps. Additionally, you can also file for claims using our online claim procedure.

When it comes to claim settlements, we offer both cashless mediclaim settlements and reimbursement claim settlements. With our cashless claim settlements, you can opt for this convenience at any of the hospitals in India without any hassle. #GoCashless