I have a floater health insurance policy over 12 years now, and I have been renewing it promptly without a break. A couple of years back, my husband was diagnosed with a renal problem. He is presently undergoing dialysis every month, incurring huge expenses. For any lower middle class family, this would entail a huge financial burden. Will subsequent expenses on dialysis, every month, be covered and claimed under a “mediclaim policy”? My insurance company had paid for the initial expenses on renal treatment, but will they continue to pay for monthly dialysis?

P Vimala

Dialysis is a day-care procedure. Day-care treatments are done under general or local anaesthesia in a hospital or in a day-care centre and take less than 24 hours.

All health insurers do not cover day-care treatments under their medi-claim policies. And, those who cover day-care procedures, may not cover all of them.

Lifeline from Royal Sundaram, Optima Restore from Apollo Munich, Care from Religare, Health Companion from Max Bupa and even the health policy from New India Assurance, cover expenses on dialysis. Royal Sundaram’s Lifeline covers chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hemodialysis also under day-care treatments. But you have to check your policy and read the document to find out if day-care treatments are covered, and if dialysis is listed as one of the procedures covered by the insurance company.

Some insurers limit expenses on day-care treatment at 10/20 per cent. Also note that some insurers, even if they cover day-care procedures, would want them to be carried out as an in-patient in a hospital. Pre-/post-hospitalisation cover for the expenses, which is normally given for cases of hospitalisation, is not given for day-care procedures by many insurers. So, we suggest you check your policy.

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