Cost of Cancer treatment can leave your finances in mess.

A million new cases of cancer are reported every year in India. The number of cases is rising every year as a result of lifestyle changes, and increased risk factors like tobacco use, drinking and air pollution. Most common cancers in India are oral, breast, cervical, lungs, and colon cancer.

Millions of our countrymen are grappling with high cost of cancer treatment that are wiping out entire life savings and in many cases forcing people to borrow. The high cost of cancer treatment are a result of high cost of treatment equipment and drugs. Basic Radiation therapy equipment costs around Rs. 10 crore, a PET CT scan machine can cost anywhere from 4-6 crores and a CyberKnife used for radiotherapy which costs around Rs 30 crore. Add all this up and cost of setting up a 100 bed cancer hospital can run up to Rs 100 crores. Hospitals recover these costs from patients. Then there is the cost of drugs and treatment. Cancer drugs don’t come cheap. Targeted cancer treatment drugs are prohibitively expensive.

Type of Cancer	Targeted Drugs	Treatment cost
Breast Cancer	Herceptin	Rs. 75000 per course. Up to 15 course may be needed.
Colon, kidney, lung and gall bladder cancer	Avastin	Rs 80,000 to 1 Lakh per cycle. Patients may need upto 7 cycles
Colon and Rectal Cancer	Erbitux	Rs 1 Lakh per cycle. Patients may need upto 7 cycles
All Types of Cancer	Chemotherapy	Each session from Rs 10000 – 90,000. May need about 4 sessions

If the cancer is in advanced stages then costs will be much higher. Specialty cancer hospitals are very few and in addition to treatment costs, the patients and their often have to come from outside town to avail of the treatment. The costs of transportation, food and lodging can easily add another 50% to these costs. It is no surprise that 25% of all patients give up these treatment midway.

Most of the government schemes don’t cover cancer treatment and the general medical insurance policy wouldn’t be enough to cover all the costs. One option to cover for these kind of illnesses is a critical illness policy. A typical critical illness policy for 10L for a 40 year old would cost Rs 6000-8000 per year. A 20 L policy would cost about 12000-15000 per year.

Less than 10% of the people in the country have medical health insurance and still fewer have critical illness polices. These policies will pay a lumpsum equal to sum insured if the insured survives 30-90 days after detection of the cancer. It is well worth protection yourselves by buying one of these policies and avoiding financial ruin. Hope that you never have to use one but it is a great protection if ever you need it.

7 Step guide to selecting the best Health Insurance policy for you.

Okay, so you have decided to be a financially savvy person and agreed that you need health insurance. If you are like the many other people I know, the next steps are pretty vague. Of course there are innumerable agents/advertisements/companies that will project that they have the best solution. But spend a few minutes with me and you are on your way to choosing the best Health Insurance Policy in India for you.

Health Insurance plans in India are available provide compensation for hospitalization plus various optional add-on covers and features. They come in 2 varieties: Family Floater and Individual. As the names suggest, Family Floaters are for families (no points for that) and Individual for individuals (who else!).

STEP 1: FAMILY FLOATER OR INDIVIDUAL?

What decision that confronts you is whether you should buy a family floater policy or an Individual policy?

FAMILY FLOATER POLICY: These policies have a Single Sum Insured that can be used by any member of the family up to any extent within the overall sum insured. If the senior-most member in your family is aged less than 45, consider a family floater policy. If the senior-most member in your family is aged more than 45, buy individual policies with graded cover for the members of your family. The reason for this is in a family floater policy, premium is based on the age of the senior most member who is most likely to fall ill and use the sum insured.  Companies may allow between 2 to 4 children.

INDIVIDUAL POLICY :  An Individual policy is purchased by an individual or by a group of individuals who are part of a family (Spouse, Children, Dependent Parents, and Parents-in-law). Each member has his own Sum Insured. Once he exhausts his sum insured, he cannot claim any further hospitalization expenses.

Family Floater Policy: One Sum Insured shared by All

Individual Policy: Separate Sum Insured for each member. Sum Insured cannot be shared.

STEP 2: SHOULD YOU BUY CRITICAL ILLNESS

CRITICAL ILLNESS COVER: Sedentary lifestyles and stress is causing an increase in critical illnesses like heart and kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and so on. If you are less than 35, it makes sense to opt for a Critical Illness cover in your health plan. Critical illness cover would give extra compensation if you are diagnosed with one of these illnesses. This is over and above your sum insured for hospitalization. Critical illness policies are available as add-ons to health insurance policies or a separate Critical illness policies.

STEP 3: MATERNITY COVER:

MATERNITY COVER: If you are in the procreation years you must consider this cover in your health plan. Most companies have a 3-year waiting period before you can claim; hence it makes sense to plan much in advance. Maternity costs are rising and buying insurance is a wise idea. Check out the insurance policies with maternity and new born cover. 

STEP 4: CHECK FOR ADDITIONAL COVERS

ADDITIONAL COVERS:  If one of the insured is a child below 10 or aged, you may want to consider nursing care or convalescence benefits. If you are a firm believer in alternative medicine, you may want to buy AYUSH (Ayurveda/UNANI/Homeopathy) cover. Transport by Ambulance is becoming a necessity in today’s world, and you may want to opt for it. 

STEP 5: CHECK FOR PRE-EXISTING DISEASES

A pre-existing disease means an existing health disorder for which you will take or will need to take treatment. Since these will most certainly lead to hospitalisation claims, insurance companies are careful in selecting clients with pre-existing conditions. Advancing age will imply pre-existing diseases. Most companies will cover pre-existing diseases only after 48 months of continuous coverage. Most companies also insist on pre-acceptance medical tests if the applicant is aged 45 or more. Some companies are more liberal and conduct such tests at 50, or 55 or even 60. You may want to check these out if you wish to avoid medicals: remember such companies will be expensive or even restrict cover offered.

STEP 6: DO YOU HAVE A PREFERRED HOSPITAL

PREFERRED HOSPITAL: Do you wish to take treatment in a particular hospital? Check if this hospital is on an Insurance company’s list. If it is you will probably get cashless treatment, which means that you will not need to pay any cash up front. If your preferred hospital is not on an insurance company’s list, you may have to pay up to 20% of the bill yourself.

STEP 7: COMPARE BEFORE YOU BUY

HOW TO COMPARE AND BUY: Follow this simple process:

·         Log onto www.policylitmus.com

·         Click on Health Insurance Quotes

·         Choose Family Floater or Individual (refer to discussion above for help).

·         Customise your policy by choosing the covers you need.

·         Compare Service standards and Price from the options displayed using the “Sort” Button

·         Select a policy of your choice

·         Buy.

Amit Kumar