Does Health Insurance Cover Psychological Disorders?

Mental well being of an individual is as important as the physical well being. Psychology of a person's day to day activities like decision making abilities, thinking abilities, work, memorization, behavior, and a lot more. The recent hit of the global pandemic has recorded a significant increase in the number of people suffering from mental health issues. Mental health has always been stigmatized and has never been looked after until now, when IRDAI has made it a compulsion to include mental well being in the insurance policies. 

IRDAI has made it compulsory for all the health insurance providers to include a mental health cover as the number of cases with respect to the psychological disorders have spiked in recent years. The inclusion of mental health in the health insurance policies is a result of the growing awareness about the same. It has come to the notice of the people that mental well being requires immediate medical attention as it can affect the normal and daily activities of an individual. 

About Mental Health 

Mental health directly affects an individual’s day to day activities and can alter their mood, behaviour, work mind, decision making, thought process, etc. According to the Mental Health Act, 2017, mental illnesses must be given equal importance as a physical disease. After being stigmatized for years, mental health has finally made its way among the people, as a result of the growing fight against it and the growing awareness regarding the same. The cognitive capacity of a person is disturbed due to any mental illness. With the steep rise in modernization, only the mental wellbeing of a person can help them survive the stress and load due to work, and therefore it should be essentially included in your health insurance cover. 

Are Psychological Disorders Included In Health Insurance Policies?

With the growing awareness towards the mental wellbeing of the people, the health insurance policies have started including Psychological disorders in the health insurance policies. IRDAI has made it necessary for all the insurance providers to treat mental illness just like any other physical illness under the Mental Health Act, 2017. The psychological disorder covered under the insurance plan looks after the medical expenses incurred during the treatment of a mental illness and covers the cost of hospitalization, medication, consultation, ambulance charges, etc, just like a physical disorder. Mental retardation is excluded from the coverage of such plans, because it is not a disease and is instead an incomplete development of the brain. 

Benefits of Psychological Disorder Cover In Health Insurance Policies

Health insurance providers have included the psychological disorders out of compulsion by the IRDAI, as there is a significant rise in the mental health cases during the lockdown due to the global pandemic. There are certain benefits of including psychological disorder cover in your purchased health insurance policy, let us look at some of them: 

• The inclusion of psychological disorder cover in the health insurance policies is mandated by the law and therefore, lawfully you as a policyholder are protected and have the complete right to receive compensation in case of suffering from any psychological disorder. 
• The psychological disorder cover comes with a fair amount of sum assured with its coverage including pre and post hospitalization, diagnosis charges, consultation, and treatment of the disease. The coverage of such plans can be extended under certain terms and conditions, and you can also receive cashless claim benefits over your policy at one of the network hospitals of the insurer. 
• The psychological disorder cover includes illnesses like bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and a lot more. The inclusions and exclusions in your policy specify the list of psychological disorders that are covered under the health insurance cover.

Conclusion 

You must carefully read the fine print of the policy related documents to understand the coverage of your policy as it will reduce the confusion at the time of claim settlement process. Mental well being has gained immense importance over the past few years and therefore, you must also look up to it and make sure that you remain stress free.  

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Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.