*All savings are provided by the insurer as per the IRDAI approved insurance plan. Standard T&C Apply
From the past 5 years, medical costs have been rising unhindered due to an increase in demand for medical care because nowadays, the trending lifestyle is very hectic with little time devoted to rest.
Thus, more and more people are becoming aware of the importance of having a health insurance plan and the crucial role that they play when someone needs emergency medical attention.
However, there are some indiscernible gaps in the coverage of these health plans, as in, they don't cover everything.
A little-known fact is that most of these plans available in the market do not provide hospital cash benefit or allowance as an integral part of health plans. Policyholders are required to purchase this benefit, under an add-on cover in most cases, separately.
There is a plan that has inbuilt hospital cash benefit, along with a lot of others, the Star Hospital Cash Insurance Policy, offered by Star Health Insurance.
Star Hospital Cash Insurance Policy is a hospital cash allowance specific insurance plan that offers financial coverage for any additional expenses, including ancillary and medical third party engagement expenses incurred by the insured.
Consider a scenario. A person has been hospitalized to undergo surgery. Before the medical procedure begins, an external medical report, say ECG scan report, is required by doctors to ascertain the patient's health info.
Also, ECG scanning is not available in the said hospital. In this case, the report has to be made from another hospital or dedicated clinic or any other third party source, which is not covered by the patient’s health insurance plan. This is where the importance of hospital cash benefits and insurance plans is apparent.
The plan also covers all incidental expenses incurred by the policyholder, such as food, traveling, etc. which are not taken care of by traditional health insurance policies during the policyholder's hospitalization. All incidental and ancillary expenses covered by the policy are only applicable to the policyholder and his/her family members, as mentioned in the policy documents during its inception.
Star Hospital Cash Insurance provides a pre-defined amount on a lump-sum basis each day for a period equivalent to that of the policyholder's hospitalization duration. This amount can be used to cover the expenses, as mentioned above.
Some of the details regarding the policy are presented in a tabular format as follows:
Category |
Particulars |
Plan Type |
Hospital Cash allowance specific health insurance |
Sum Insured Types |
Individual basis and Floater basis |
Coverage (in regard to family members) |
Up to 5 members (which includes up to 3 dependent family members, self and spouse) |
Plan variants |
Basic variant and Enhanced variant |
Total Cash amount offered per day (options) |
Basic variant (in INR) – 1000, 2000, 3000 Enhanced variant (in INR) – 3000, 4000, 5000 |
Maximum number of days hospital cash is offered (options) |
Basic variant – 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 Enhanced variant – 90, 120, 180 |
Policy tenure (options) |
1 year, 2 years, 3 years (irrespective of plan variant) |
The Star Hospital Cash Insurance Plan comes coupled with numerous alluring features and attractive benefits, which have been discussed in length in the following section:
The various inclusions and exclusions of Star Hospital Cash Insurance have been mentioned below:
As mentioned earlier, the plan comes in 2 types based on Sum Insured values: individual and floater types. The entry age is between 18 years and 65 years.
Also, the individual variant has a lifelong renewability option, which means that there are no age restrictions when it comes to planning renewal.
The floater variant of Star Hospital Cash Insurance Plan is for people who want insurance protection for themselves as well as their family members under a single policy. The entry age ranged for adults for this variant is 18 to 65 years, whereas, for dependent children, the age range is 91 days to 25 years.
The Policy tenure options available are 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years.
Star Health offers a seamless, convenient, and hassle-free claim process and fast claim settlements. It also offers in-house and direct claim settlements when the policyholder is hospitalized in one of the hospitals under the hospital network of the company.
The claims process can be registered both for cashless and reimbursement claims. A cashless claim can be claimed in case of treatment availed from a network hospital. The process includes intimating the insurer and seeking cashless approval from the insurance company. If the insurer approves the request, the insured can avail treatment free of cost. The hospital bills are settled directly by the insurer.
On the other hand, in case the treatment is availed from a non-network hospital the insured has to pay the bills initially and register a claim later. The original bills along with the discharge summary and certificates have to be submitted at the time of registering a claim. The claim form has to be dully submitted. The insurer after verifying the claim form and documents, reimburses the amount up to an admissible amount.
The documents required while applying for the plan are as follows:
The application process for Star Hospital Cash Insurance is very and involves minimal documentation. As the plan is online-based, it can be bought at the website of Paisawiki.com or the company’s own website. The step-by-step process on how to purchase the plan is given as follows:
The renewal process refers to the renewal of an expired policy. The Star Hospital Cash Insurance Policy's renewal process is seamless and hassle-free, the same as the claims process. The insurer supports the completion of the renewal process through both the modes – online and offline.
This mode is comparatively easier than its offline counterpart. Policyholders have to visit Paisawiki.com to complete the process. Individuals who wish to complete the renewal process through this mode are requested to follow the steps mentioned below:
This mode is rather difficult and more time-consuming when compared to the online mode. Individuals who wish to complete the renewal process through this mode are requested to follow the steps mentioned below:
Ans: The following cases are supported by the plan, for securing cash during hospitalization of the policyholder:
Ans: For both the Basic and Enhanced variants, the waiting period for specified medical conditions is 24 months.
Ans: The insurer offers this plan in Individual and Floater basis when it comes to types of the plan based on Sum Insured.
Ans: The grace period for Star Hospital Cash Health Insurance is 30 days for renewal.