The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines hypertension as a condition in which the blood pressure is too high. To a report presented at the 70th Annual Conference of CSI (Cardiological Society of India) one in five young adults in India suffers from hypertension. In absolute terms, it converts to 80 million youngsters. An alarming figure but gross reality. With modern lifestyle habits, increased stress at work and/or home, and poor diet choices, hypertension is becoming a common ailment, even in youngsters. This illness can lead to further physiological complications like –
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Heart failure
- Aneurysm
- Weakened blood vessels in the kidneys and eyes
- Metabolic syndrome, etc.
Managing hypertension
Hypertension usually involves continued medication in youngsters and adults. It is a chronic condition and its remedies include taking regular medicines to lower your blood pressure, reducing your salt intake and staying away from stress. Yoga and meditation can help in lowering your blood pressure levels and medicines keep it in check.
Consult a doctor who would advise you on the right course of treatment for your condition and follow the treatment religiously so that the condition does not complicate your health further.
Taking care of your finances
After being diagnosed with hypertension; your medical expenses increase when you are a youngster. Regular doctor visits and continued medications prove to be an added expense. And if the condition complicates requiring you to seek special or advanced medical care, the costs multiply. For these enhanced costs, a health insurance plan becomes essential.
Health insurance and hypertension – what you should know
Health insurance plans provide coverage for hypertension in youngsters . Whether you are suffering from the illness when buying the plan or developing it, coverage would be provided later. Insurers typically cancel the plan at a younger age and hence the early onset of this condition may limit your options to buy health insurance later.
However, here are a few tenets of the coverage that you should know about –
- If you are suffering from hypertension and you look for a health insurance plan, you would get coverage. However, there would be a waiting period during which hypertension would not be covered. This period can range from a year to up to 4 years.
- Under some plans, there is an option of reducing the waiting period at an additional premium. So, if you want the hypertension coverage to start early, you can opt for this option.
- If you already have a health insurance plan and then you suffer from hypertension; you would be covered from the day that you get diagnosed. No waiting period would apply.
- In most cases, the premium for the policy would be higher since you have hypertension which increases your health risk when you are a youngster.
- In severe cases, the insurer might restrict coverage for hypertension and related illnesses.
Group insurance and hypertension
If you are employed and your employer offers group health insurance coverage; you can enjoy coverage against hypertension. Similarly, if you are part of a group and the group has opted for a health plan for its members; you would be covered despite your illness. Group health plans are quite beneficial because –
- They do not have a waiting period for hypertension thus allowing you complete protection from the first day itself
- They are cost-effective as the premiums are lower. In many cases, if the employer or the group bears the premium cost, you can enjoy free coverage.
- Existing hypertension does not inflate the premium nor are there any coverage restrictions
However, your group policy might not prove insufficient in covering your medical expenses. This is because of the following reasons –
- The sum insured might be limited
- You do not have control over the coverage features. The policy cannot be customised or modified as per your coverage needs.
- The coverage might not extend to your spouse and/or kids
- The continuity is not guaranteed. If the group opts out of the coverage or if you leave the group, you would lose the coverage
As such, an independent health insurance plan is recommended; even when you have group cover. The independent health plan fills the gaps that group health plans leave behind. It can allow you the benefit of the higher sum insured levels, lifelong renewability, customised coverage features, coverage for the whole family and the like. So, add an independent plan to your portfolio to supplement your health insurance coverage.
The bottom line
Hypertension at younger ages might not be a complicated affair. You can, thus, get comprehensive coverage even when you are suffering from the ailment. Buy the plan for financial protection against the illness’s complications. Buy young to wait out the waiting period before complications arise and get lifelong coverage for complete security. To know more read on https://blog.oneassure.in/