What is OPD cover facility in a health insurance policy?

No matter how healthy our lifestyle is, we can get sick at any moment. And no matter how much we save our money, it can all go into our medical treatment. This is why getting a health insurance policy is so important these days. Especially in a situation like the ongoing pandemic, even after taking so many precautions, many people had to be admitted to the hospital in the second wave. Along with our health, it takes a toll on our pockets also.

However, while we take a health insurance policy, we mostly think of getting hospitalized. Well, even if you take the OPD service, a health insurance policy can be of great help. And for this, you have to take an OPD cover health insurance policy. Now let us first understand what an OPD cover is.

What is an OPD cover?

It is a health insurance cover that enables the policyholder to avail of the outpatient treatment cost. Once you take this, you can rest assured that the health insurance company will your medical cost without getting hospitalized. An OPD cover does not come with the majority of the health insurance plans; therefore, you would be required to buy an OPD cover.

You can come across some health insurance companies that offer OPD insurance cover which you can get with the basic plan.

Why should you purchase health insurance with OPD coverage?

If you are still wondering about the need of buying health insurance with OPD coverage, then here are some points for you mentioned below:

• Health insurance policies that provide OPD cover, help the policyholder to claim the expenses apart from what has been incurred at the time of hospitalization
• As compared to regular health insurance plans, better tax benefits are associated with these kinds of plans. You can claim tax exemption in the premiums that you pay for such health insurance plans. There won’t be any TDS for claims.
• In the majority of the health insurance policies that come with OPD cover, you will be able to claim reimbursement on costs that multiple times at the time of the policy term. The outpatient health service includes several types of services; therefore, the transactions are more. This will ultimately make the value of a health insurance plan with OPD cover much more than a regular health insurance policy.
• This kind of policy also covers pharmacy bills
• The regular health insurance plans decide claims as well as the sum assured on the basis of hospitalization for 24 hours. However, for the OPD cover, the sum assured is determined on the basis of the age of the policyholder
• You can claim the OPD expenses within 90 days of availing of the health insurance policy.

Companies that offer OPD cover

Many insurance companies provide health insurance policies with OPD cover. Here are a few of them mentioned.

Bajaj Allianz Tax Gain Plan

This is basically a family floater health insurance plan that provides coverage for hospitalization costs along with OPD costs. Here are the features of this plan.

• The plan will provide you tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax
• This plan will provide you cashless facility through more than 5000 network hospitals in the country
• You can claim the outpatient department costs very easily and quickly
• The cost covered include the expenses of spectacles, dentures, dental treatment, dental procedures, crutches, etc.
• You will also be able to claim up to INR 1000 as ambulance charges.

Like this, there are many plans such as Apollo Munich Maxima Plan, Max Bupa Heartbeat Platinum Plan, Cigna TTK ProHealth Accumulate Plan. You can get the details of these plans by visiting the website of IIFL. You can compare these plans and then make up your mind for any one.