Critical Illness Insurance For Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Medical emergencies may occur at any time to anybody. The risk is even higher if you have a hereditary record of certain specific types of ailments. Once the ailment sets in, there is no turning back. The treatment costs may prove to be financially quite overwhelming, especially in the long run.
Therefore, it is better to keep yourself prepared for such contingencies to ensure better health and financial management. In case there are certain hereditary ailments in your family, it is better to take specific care of such ailments beforehand by purchasing critical illness insurance coverage.
This article will focus on critical illness insurance for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Importance of critical illness insurance for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
The treatment and therapies of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension are quite expensive and require a comparatively long time to recover. The last thing that you need at this sort of crucial juncture is to worry about finances.
A competent critical illness cover for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension will ensure to retain your peace of mind during such stressful times. Anxiety and stress during such a crucial period tend to harm your already weak health, which is entirely undesirable.
However, a competent critical illness cover for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension will take care of your finances and ensure to retain your peace of mind and a speedy recovery.
Why is it essential to consider primary pulmonary arterial hypertension critical illness insurance, even when you have an indemnity plan in place?
Unlike conventional indemnity-based health insurance policies, critical illness insurance policies are benefit plans. You receive the amount of the sum insured in a lump sum from your concerned insurance provider once you get diagnosed with any specifically listed critical ailment, in this case, it is primary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Once it gets detected, and your doctor prescribes a certain specific line of treatment and therapy, you can inform your insurer regarding the development and claim settlement. As your insurer verifies your claim to be genuine, you will receive the lump sum amount in a single transaction to your registered bank account.
You can utilise this amount in any manner you desire and require; it is not necessary that you have to utilise it for treatment purposes only. You can use it for paying off your outstanding debts, creating a reserve for the future, substituting your loss of income and many others, depending on the circumstances.
Your group health insurance or personal or family floater health cover will cover and reimburse the treatment costs only up to a specific extent. However, a critical illness coverage plan will provide you with a considerable lump sum amount to handle the tough times better on primary diagnosis and advice of your doctor.
What is primary pulmonary arterial hypertension?
To put it in layman’s terms, primary pulmonary arterial hypertension denotes high blood pressure in the lungs. This is a comparatively rare lung disorder, where the blood vessels in the lungs gradually narrow, eventually raising the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery. The nature of this ailment varies from regular hypertension.
The pulmonary arteries are responsible for carrying deoxygenated blood from the right part of the heart to the lungs to make them oxygen-rich.
Without timely treatment, primary pulmonary arterial hypertension may even lead to heart failure since it is a very chronic and serious issue. Doctors often prescribe medications that tend to relax the blood vessels or prohibit excessive cell growth within the arterial walls.
However, this is a degenerating disease and often beyond cure. Studies have revealed that primary pulmonary arterial hypertension often affects women between the age group of 30 and 60 years. The symptoms often remain mild, without affecting the normal life course.
Causes of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
The definite causes of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension are still unknown. It has been found often that there is no apparent lung or heart disorder that raises the blood pressure.
Certain typical forms of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension are genetic and show records of family history. Nearly 25% of the affected patients tend to suffer from heritable primary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Medical researchers opine that this particular form of gene mutation increases the overall sensitivity among the blood vessels due to certain specific factors. When they get exposed to such responsible factors, they tend to narrow or be exposed causing alterations in the blood vessels.
Symptoms of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
Some of the common symptoms of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension include:
1. Frequent dizziness
2. Regular dry cough
3. Fainting
4. Bluish lips and skin tone
5. Rapid pulse rate
6. Frequent chest pain
7. Tremendous tiredness
8. A feeling of rapid heartbeat
9. Breathlessness
10. Swelling in the ankles or legs
11. Difficulty in receiving optimum air
As the ailment progresses, these symptoms tend to intensify including:
1. Bedriddenness
2. Experiencing one or more of the abovementioned symptoms even during rest
Treatment of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
Some of the plausible lines of treatments that most doctors tend to follow for treating primary pulmonary arterial hypertension include:
1. Medications: IF you are diagnosed with this ailment at a comparatively early stage when the symptoms are still mild, then regular medications might help. These medications include the administration of anticoagulants, vasodilator medicines, calcium channel-blocking techniques, diuretics, specific therapies for pulmonary arteries, etc.
2. Oxygen therapy: This implies the delivery of supplemental oxygen either through a mask or nasal prongs to ease the breathing difficulty of the affected individual.
Heartlung or lung transplant: Individuals with grave symptoms at advanced stages might even require a heart-lung or lung transplant.
3. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle: To keep yourself fit and healthy, it is best to invest a few minutes every day to retain your good health and maintain healthy food habits regularly. You can include iron, and vitamin K, and consume less salt. A fast-paced and sedentary lifestyle without any physical exercise increases the risk of getting affected manifolds, especially if you maintain a hereditary record.
Depending on the severity of the disease, the doctors may also opt for surgical intervention. Some of such surgical procedures include pulmonary endarterectomy, balloon pulmonary angioplasty, atrial septostomy, etc.
Inclusions and exclusions of critical illness insurance for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
Inclusions
Some standard inclusions of a critical illness plan for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension include that the insurer pays you a lump sum amount once you get diagnosed with the said ailment. On diagnosis, you can raise your claim with all the supporting documents. The insurer verifies your claim and once everything turns out to be genuine, you receive a lump sum.
There is no hard and fast rule that you have to utilise this amount for treatment purposes only. However, since the therapies and treatments of these sorts of critical ailments tend to be quite expensive, especially in the long run, you can use them to handle medical emergencies better.
You can use it to cover hospitalisation expenses, surgery costs, etc. as per requirement.
Exclusions
Some standard exclusions of critical illness cover for any ailment including primary pulmonary arterial hypertension are:
1. Any claim raised before the specified waiting period
2. Any claim raised before the survival period is also not entertained
3. Any self-inflicted injury leading to suicide or attempted suicide
4. Any injury caused due to involvement in adventurous or defence activities
5. Injuries caused due to any warlike situations, riots or other similar violent events
6. Any claims raised for any other ailment other than the specified critical illnesses
Eligibility for critical illness insurance for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
To purchase critical illness coverage for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, you need to be 18 years of age, whereas the optimum entry age limit under normal circumstances is 65 years. However, this age limit may vary from insurer to insurer.
The premium rates for critical illness cover plans are comparatively lower than standard indemnity plans.
People of the following category must seek proper health insurance coverage for critical illness for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension:
1. People with a family history of critical ailment of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension: It is advisable to take precautions if you have a family history of critical illnesses that have warning signs. Such previous records heighten the possibility of a diagnosis of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension. Therefore, under such circumstances, it is better to stay prepared with critical illness insurance that covers primary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
2. Chief breadwinners: If you are the family’s principal breadwinner, detecting any critical ailment in your body will grossly jeopardise your family’s current lifestyle and future. Your treatment costs will be significantly high and will eventually affect your daily lives and expenses. Therefore, it is best to stay protected to avoid such circumstances and enhance your health protection coverage against primary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
3. Individuals involved in high-pressure jobs: Although most people might fail to realise it or even deny the fact, regular stress is one of the major reasons for being affected by these sorts of ailments. Most stress-related jobs may aggravate heart issues, hypertension and other similar illnesses. Therefore, if you are involved in one of such types of jobs, it is better to keep yourself covered for critical illness for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension to ensure better coverage and protection.
4. Individuals over 40 years: Health issues aggravate with ageing. Therefore, it is better to stay prepared beforehand if you have reached 40 years old.
Tax benefits
As critical illness for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension is a variant of health insurance, therefore, it is eligible to get tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act for the premiums that you have paid towards it. This tabular representation will clarify the issue better:
Premium paid towards critical illness cover for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
| DESCRIPTION | SELF. SPOUSE, AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN |
| All the dependents and the policyholder are non-senior citizens | INR 25000 |
| When the parents have become senior citizens | INR 25000 |
| When both the policyholder and his/her parents are senior citizens | INR 25000 |
Key factors to consider while purchasing critical illness insurance for a primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
Most of the critical illness insurance plans are designed to cover multiple critical ailments. You need to consider certain crucial factors before you finally make your choice regarding purchasing a critical illness cover for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension. Some of the most significant factors that you must consider in this respect include:
1. Ailments covered: You have to ensure that the critical illness insurance that you have chosen offers coverage for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension. Not all critical illness insurance covers is applicable for every type of critical ailments. Therefore, you have to ensure that the one you have selected suits your purpose well.
2. Definitions: Understanding all the medical and insurance terms might prove to be quite challenging for common people. But you cannot keep anything ambiguous in this respect. You can take the help of your family physician to understand the complexities for a better understanding of the insurance coverage details to avoid any misunderstandings in future.
3. Exclusions: Not all critical illness coverage plans cover everything. Although the list of exclusions may differ from plan to plan and insurer to insurer, there is a standard set of factors that commonly get excluded from critical illness insurance including the one for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension. Most of these plans deny coverage for PEDs during the waiting period. Such coverage plans may cost more. Before your final selection, you have to ensure the complete list of exclusions and inclusions for better management and understanding.
4. Sub-limits: Most insurance companies often tend to levy sub-limits according to the health condition, which varies from one type of ailment to another. If you purchase critical illness insurance for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, your respective insurance provider will pay you only if you are diagnosed with that particular ailment. The amount of sum assured eventually reduces the margin of sub-limits.
5. Premium: You must note that standard comprehensive indemnity-based coverage plans are comparatively more expensive than any critical illness plan including the one for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension. Therefore, you must critically analyse your requirements well beforehand to make the most suitable choice and prevent unnecessary financial drainage.
6. Renewal: When you are seeking critical illness cover for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, you must ideally choose a plan with a lifelong renewability facility. This will ensure to retain your coverage even during your old age, as you are more prone to get affected by this ailment as you tend to grow older.
7. Claim settlement ratio: Before selecting your insurer you must consider the customer reviews and the trend of the claim settlement ratio. It is better to choose one with a comparatively higher claim settlement ratio to retain your peace of mind. This enhances the possibility of your claim being settled without hassles if it is required.
8. Survival period: Several critical illness plans come with a clause of survival period, which ensures that you need to survive for a specific period after the diagnosis of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension to receive the insurance coverage benefits. This survival period varies from one insurer to another. So, you must clarify it beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings during claim settlement.
9. Increasing age: Increasing age enhances the possibility of developing primary pulmonary arterial hypertension, depending on the health conditions. Moreover, the treatment costs of these sorts of specific ailments tend to be comparatively much higher than standard treatments and therapies. So, it is better to stay protected beforehand to ensure better finance management, especially in the long run.
10. Current health status: Your current health condition is oftentimes indicative of your future health condition. Regular stress, hereditary medical history, etc. are contributing factors that tend to develop several critical ailments in future. Therefore, you must pay close attention to your present health condition and lifestyle before selecting the critical illness cover for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension.
11. Future medical expenses: You must note that the degree of medical inflation is quite high in India. Therefore, while buying any critical illness cover you must assess your tentative income and expense status to ensure better finance management despite medical contingencies.
The cost associated with primary pulmonary arterial hypertension
Depending on the nature of treatment and therapies the cost gets decided. If your symptoms are low, simple but regular medication will aid you significantly along with a healthy diet routine and befitting physical exercises.
However, any surgical intervention will raise the overall cost significantly. A lung transplant may cost between INR 1300000 and INR 2500000, while a heart-lung transplant may cause even higher.
You can seek a medical opinion to know the exact details. It varies from person to person, depending on the intensity of the ailment.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Under normal circumstances, there is no such provision here. However, you may purchase a separate rider Premium Waiver rider to ensure retaining the existing plan despite skipping paying the premium due to certain unavoidable circumstances for a pre-determined period.
It varies from one individual to another. You must always consider your factors and other relevant parameters like your income, assets, liabilities, health status, etc. along with the inflation factor and proceed accordingly.
No, it is not mandatory. However, most insurance providers require the reports before policy issuance. It depends on the terms, conditions, rules, and regulations of your chosen insurance provider and the insurance plan that you have selected. If you have any doubts regarding the issue, you can easily clarify it with your respective insurance provider.
No, this is not allowed in any critical illness coverage plan. Once you are diagnosed with any specific listed critical ailment, you can raise the claim and get it settled after your insurer verifies your claim to be genuine. The insurance provider will pay you a lump sum amount depending on the value of the sum assured, and settle your claim one time. Once the claim is settled, your insurance cover becomes null and void automatically. You cannot raise any further claim for the same insurance cover policy.
The sum insured for critical illness coverage for primary pulmonary arterial hypertension directly depends on your health coverage requirements. You can make a clear assessment and choose your critical illness coverage policy accordingly.
Some of the probable causes of primary pulmonary arterial hypertension include hereditary history, overweightedness, smoking, blood-clotting disorders, hereditary history of clots in lungs, excessive exposure to asbestos, any congenital heart issue, etc.
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