Medical costs in India are on the rise. Admitting yourself into a decent hospital in a semi-private room, if not private, will cost you at the very least Rs 1,000 with all the medicines, food, rent of the room, etc. If there are operating costs, then the bill automatically quadruples itself (more actually).It's easy to escape a health insurance cover when you're in your twenties. But if an unexpected illness gets you it will eat into your savings.
The point being, it is important to insure your health or as it is popularly known in India, medical insurance.

Right now, more than sixty percent of the population falls in the age group between 20-45 years. This means in ten years time, this whole population would be in the older age group where medical problems start arising. This is good news for the industry as a whole as this means spending from consumers will only continue growing from hereon.Naturally, as spending increase, so will the growth of the industry at large, which means we are looking at increased costs in terms of medication, hospital expenses, operations/surgery. So, a hospital room per day cost which is, say, Rs 500 today will in ten years time perhaps be around Rs 1,000.

In a nutshell, it's a very sensible idea to get oneself insured early. Another reason why you need to get a mediclaim is because it's quite possible that your parents aren't adequately covered for your health and any mediclaim that you take does offer you the choice of insuring your dependents as well. And the older your parents are the higher their premium

Besides as you reach retirement age, your health hazards also increase and if you haven’t taken care of planning for that, you could well find yourself eating into your retirement funds. While most companies these days offer medical reimbursement as part of their package, this is sufficient to cover regular or annual medical check-ups. A big operation might see you left wanting in terms of funding.

Also, there is one other aspect about taking a health insurance and that is its tax benefits. With most of us, stretching to make some hurried investments before D date, a medical insurance is a handy deal. It covers you for any unexpected and unfortunate medical expenses, not just you, your dependents (parents, wife/husband and/or kids) and it exempts you from tax under Section 8oD.

Moreover, a health insurance not only covers hospitalization expenses, the cover also includes pre as well as post expenses. So, if a policyholder is involved in an accident and requires physiotherapy post the surgery, his/her mediclaim will cover those expenses too, subject to the amount being within the limits of the sum assured, of course.

So, if you are in your twenties, this is a good time to get a mediclaim, as most companies offer policies to people in this age-group without a medical check-up. Once you are past the age of 45, most companies will insist on a medical check-up. Another thing to keep in mind is that mediclaims don't cover pre-existing diseases; therefore it's best to disclose medical conditions early on.