What Is Preventive Care? Does my Health Insurance Policy cover it?

A common question that we ask when we think about Preventive care, is why should I go to the doctor when I am healthy? Also, does my Health Insurance Policy cover Preventive Care costs?

A simple answer is that preventive care keeps you healthy and therefore lowers your health care costs. A stitch in time saves nine! Regular medical tests anyone? Preventive care helps detect or prevent serious diseases, illnesses, and medical conditions, rather than treating them after it has become acute or catastrophic. This may be called routine care for your body. Generally, preventive plans include tests for cholesterol levels, blood tests, diabetes tests, pressure monitoring, genetic testing, cancer screening, HIV tests, etc.

Preventive care aims to help you stay safe and healthy. Regular tests and scheduled visits allow your doctor to identify medical problems before they become major health challenges for you.

Benefits of preventive care include:

• Early detection of illness, diseases, and other medical problems helps your doctor to provide timely treatment and proactive care.
• Helps reduce the pain/ suffering from age/ hereditary medical issues.
• Gives Doctors more time to diagnose and effectively treat any illness in its infancy
• Reduces financial burden, that you might incur due to illnesses if detected in early stages

Examples of preventive health services:

• Annual Check-Up (1 per year) – Your Doctor checks your physical and emotional health. Early detection of major medical problems is possible.
• Immunization- Most health insurance plans cover this and protect you from certain strains of the flu/
• Vaccinations (typically administered during childhood) – Vaccinations against Polio, Measles, etc are covered.
• Colonoscopies and other internal checkups
• Screenings, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and cancer tests.

Considering things like age, family history, and current health status your Doctor can confirm what tests are right for you.  In order, for you to be fully covered your doctor or the testing facility must be registered with your insurance provider. Most Health Insurance policies cover preventive care costs, but they can differ from policy to policy.

Preventive care is often covered by a health insurance policy and offers great benefits, both in health and cost to the consumer. To know more about which policies support preventive care costs and other health benefits, get insured with a health insurance policy from Elephant.in