Being insured in a world of uncertainties is a wise approach. While life insurance is the most common form of insurance, there are several other insurance schemes to meet specific eventualities like vehicle, fire, home, and theft which are general insurance lines.
And if health is wealth, one would certainly think about signing up for critical illness health insurance, which offers cover against lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, cancer, et cetera.
Time was when heart disease meant you had to be at least 70. Over the past 7-8 years it has assumed alarming proportions with people as young as 25 getting the disease. Sample these statistics.
According to a report by National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes will more than double -- cancers will rise by 25% in the coming few years.
Lifestyle diseases like heart ailments, asthma, cancer, nervous and circulatory disorders, diabetes, hypertension and obesity are fairly widespread in urban India. And the genetic predisposition of Indians to lifestyle diseases does not help matters either.
However, the most worrying trend that is emerging is that these diseases are claiming people from the younger productive age group of 30-50. It is a scary pattern, and the probability of an individual developing these diseases is pretty high. It makes sense to insure oneself against them.
Rapid urbanisation and high work pressure are taking their toll on young professionals of India Inc. A few years back, a 30-year-old heart patient was regarded as a rare case. Not any more.
At a time, when the Indian economy is on a roll, the country cannot afford to lose its productive population to lifestyle diseases. Most patients are breadwinners of their families, and failing health is a dent to their careers as well as to the family's standard of living.
Indians today suffer from high levels of stress. Long hours at work, little exercise, disregard for a healthy balanced diet and a consequent dependence on junk food have weakened the immune systems and put everybody at an increased risk of contracting illnesses.
Once rare non-communicable diseases now common such as obesity, high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks now affect an increasing number of urban Indians.
While one can't accurately predict the onset of such diseases, it is certainly possible to insure against them: by signing up for a critical illness policy.
The biggest advantage of opting for a critical illness insurance plan is that it provides better cover to the patient than the traditional favourite, Mediclaim. While Mediclaim compensates for only hospitalisation costs, critical illness insurance pays the patient a lump sum amount, which can include costs of medicines, treatment, surgery and hospitalisation.
Thus, loss of income during the period of treatment is also covered up to a certain extent. Some of the new critical insurance policies are quite affordable, and a few like Tata AIG General's Criticare work out to as low as Rs 11 per day (for a 35-year-old, Rs 500,000 cover, excluding service tax).
High amount of stress and work pressure has become synonymous with corporate life in the cities. Adopting the right lifestyle can go a long way in keeping lifestyle diseases at bay. But why take chances? After all, it is your life. Get a critical illness insurance of your choice today.
The author is Head (Accident & Health Insurance), Tata-AIG General Insurance Company Ltd.
