Hospitalisation for illness, disease or accident, whether including surgery or not, imposes a heavy financial burden on individuals, families, employers and welfare bodies. This is where medical insurance comes in handy.

Mediclaim insurance policies provide reimbursement of hospitalisation expenses, which include boarding costs, nursing costs and fees of professionals such as a surgeon, anaesthetist, medical practitioner, consultant and specialist. It also grants reimbursement of expenses incurred on account of procedures like anaesthesia, blood, oxygen, operation theatre charges, surgical appliances, medicines and drugs, diagnostic material, X-ray, dialysis, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, cost of pacemaker, artificial limbs, cost of organs and similar expenses. The amount of money available for reimbursement depends on the amount that the insured person was insured for. 

The entry age for medical insurance differs from company to company. People above a certain age may be asked to undergo a medical check up from an authorized centre before being issued a policy. Some policies may cover the primary insured person as well as their spouse, dependant children or dependant parents. However, if any of the insured has a medical condition, prior to taking the policy, which required medical treatment, then the same gets automatically excluded from the policy.