Importance of Health Insurance for Kidney Failure Treatment in India

Kidney failure is referred to as end-stage renal disease (ESRD). It is considered the last stage of chronic kidney disease. 

An individual is said to have kidney failure when his/her kidney function drops below 15% of the normal. In this scenario, the kidneys get damaged and fail to make red blood cells, remove waste products as well as extra water from the body, and control the blood pressure. 

The prime reasons behind kidney failure can be: 

• Loss of the blood flow to the kidneys (due to high blood pressure, heart disease, liver failure, and others)
• Urine elimination problems (prostate cancer, cervical cancer, kidney stones, enlarges prostate, and others) 
• Other causes like a blood clot in or around kidneys, infection, drugs and alcohol, uncontrollable diabetes, vasculitis, lupus, chemotherapy drugs, certain antibiotics, etc.       

A thing to remember is that kidney failure doesn’t take place overnight. It is the gradual loss of kidney function that leads to kidney failure. Most people don’t even realize that they are struggling with kidney failure. It is only once 85-90% of the kidney function is gone, people realize that they were experiencing kidney failure symptoms. 

Symptoms of Kidney Failure 

Symptoms when kidneys become progressively worse:

• Itching
• Trouble in sleeping
• Muscle cramps
• Not feeling hungry
• Nausea and vomiting
• Trouble catching your breath
• Swelling in ankles and feet 
• Too much urine or not enough urine

Symptoms when kidneys stop working suddenly (acute kidney failure): 

• Vomiting 
• Back pain
• Abdominal pain
• Fever
• Diarrhea
• Rash
• Vomiting

Treatment of Kidney Failure 

When it comes to the treatment of kidney failure, you have two options to choose from. They are - 

• Dialysis - a procedure that involves the removal of waste products and excess fluid from the blood
• Kidney Transplant – Operation to place a healthy kidney in your body

Note that your treatment type would depend on your condition. 

Kidney Failure Treatment Without Health Insurance

If you don’t have a health insurance or your policy does not cover kidney failure treatment, you may face financial concerns. Why? It is because the cost of dialysis treatment (12 dialyses per month) in India starts from Rs. 12,000 per month and goes up to Rs. 20,000 per month, depending on the type of dialysis conducted.

The same applies to a kidney transplant. Without health insurance coverage, you may have to bear the cost of Rs. 5 up to Rs. 9 Lakh for a kidney transplant in private hospitals. Additional costs are likely to include aftercare expenses, cost of immunosuppressive drugs and others that may range from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000. Note that the cost of a kidney transplant may differ from city to city. 

Kidney Failure Treatment With Health Insurance

Having a health insurance policy by your side during a medical emergency like kidney failure can help you stay financially secure and free from concerns of any kind. 

What’s best is that you won’t have to worry about gathering funds at the last moment and in fact, spending anything at all. If your policy offers dialysis cover or kidney transplant cover, you will be saved from watching your life-long savings go down the drain as your policy will cover you for the treatment costs. 

Moreover, your family members won’t have to deal with the financial and emotional stress in an already worrisome situation. 

Therefore, it is advisable to invest in a plan that covers you for kidney failure treatment. 

What can you do to cover yourself for kidney failure treatment?

The answer is simple. To secure yourself from financial struggles during an emergency like kidney failure, all you need to do is buy critical illness insurance that covers kidney failure treatment. 

By choosing one of the best critical illness insurance plans as per your needs, you will not only gain cover for treatment for kidney failure, but also other critical illnesses like heart attack, stroke, cancer, paralysis and others at the same premium price.

Once when diagnosed, your health insurance provider will grant you a lump sum amount that you will be free to use as per your medical needs. 

Isn’t that great?

Also Read

Need Dialysis Cover? Check These Critical Illness Plans

Importance of Critical Illness Insurance Policy for Heart Attack Treatment

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that being diagnosed with kidney failure is scary. 

However, you can prevent the situation from becoming further emotionally, physically and financially draining by choosing the right health insurance policy for covering kidney failure treatment. 

Want to know more about plans that offer dialysis cover or kidney transplant? Initiate contact with InsuranceDekho experts at 1800-1205-698 right away!