PERSONAL FINANCE

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Medical Card : 5 Things You Should Know

Medical card and medical insurance is necessary because all services cannot be offered by a government hospital. Government hospitals can offer emergency and essential medical care but usually there is a long waiting list. Possession of a medical card will be able to give you more choices to both government and private hospitals. A medical card can help you prepare for costly expenses and ensures comprehensive coverage in medical, surgical and hospital costs, ambulance fees and other related medical charges.

Things to Look Out For When Buying Medical Cards

Exclusions

Many medical card do not pay for many chronic diseases in the first year and many cards do not pay for pre-existing medical conditions. Most cards only provide in-patient services and exclude outpatient services.

Guaranteed Renewal

Some medical card are yearly renewable (that means renewal is subject to the approval of the insurance company), while others normally offer guaranteed renewal up to a lifetime limit.

Co-Insurance

Some medical card also practice co-insurance, meaning that you’ll have to pay a certain amount of the medical fees, normally at 10% – 20% of the total medical fees incurred, while the balance will be paid by the insurance company.

Cashless

There are also some medical card which are cashless medical card. As a policyholder of this kind of cashless medical card, just present the medical card at any participating hospital to facilitate your hospital admission. You do not need to worry about preparing and submitting claims as all expenses under the medical card will be paid directly to the hospitals. However, this kind of medical cards are becoming less available due to misuse and very high claim rate. Some insurance companies require you to pay first and then file claims for certain hospital admissions.

Participating Hospitals

Depending on the insurance companies, the number of participating hospitals varies. Choosing a medical card with more participating hospitals benefits you better, as you will have more choices in time of emergency.

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