A social media post last week had a striking banner: “From 1 July 2025, IRDAI allows health-insurance claims for hospital stays as short as two hours.”  SEBI RIA Abhishek Kumar explains what changed and what didn’t. About the author: Abhishek is part of a freefincal’s curated list of fee-only financial advisors and a fee-only India member. He can be…

A reader asks, “Would you please suggest how one can manage financially if one is not eligible for health insurance due to pre-existing diseases for younger folks? Medical expenses are an inevitability. How do we plan for that as best as we can?” Most private health insurers today are unlikely to accept the risk of…

Here is a list of steps to consider if your health insurance claim is rejected. For a rea-life experience see: How I used Bima Lokpal to contest my health insurance claim rejection and won 1. Do not let anger and emotions cloud your judgment.  Take some time to read and re-read the claim repudiation letter. Find…

In this article, we answer some questions on health insurance asked by listeners of the “Let’s Get Rich with Pattu” podcast. These are also FAQs that we receive from time to time from our readers. Q:  This concerns the medical Insurance episode on Let’s Get Rich with Pattu. I’m a private sector employee and have…

A reader asks, “I am 35 years old and presently have a Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) cover for myself and my family (wife and daughter) on account of my Central Government job. Considering that the possibility of switching jobs is negligible and that CGHS can be extended to cover me and my wife post-retirement…

A reader wishes to know, “What is the ideal base health insurance plus super top-up combination?” If you are confused about which health insurance policy to buy, check out the free resources at the end of this article. There is no ideal base + super top-up combo. We will have to decide what is suitable…

A reader asks, “Can you please explain why health insurers suddenly hike premiums? I was shocked to see my premium increase by almost 50%. I thought premiums would increase only if we moved from one age band to another.” An insurance company makes money if its customers rarely make claims. Insurers will do everything in…

A reader recently could opt for a cashless claim or pay cash and then be reimbursed in a network hospital—an account. This is my experience when encountering a Cashless VS Reimbursement situation a few months ago in 2023 (the story was shared with us in Feb 2024). The hospital offered a package for the procedure…

In this article, Sunil explains how he contested a health insurance claim rejection with the Insurance Ombudsman (Bima Lokpal portal) and won. Sunil prefers that the health insurance company not be named in the article (the editorial team at Freefincal is also unaware of this). The procedure followed matters more to the reader, as it…

In this article, Lakshman shares how he bought a health insurance policy for his family. We are grateful to the members of the freefincal community for generously sharing their research with all of us. Note: Health insurance is an extremely personalized purchase. Please do your extensive research before buying. I started learning about personal finance…

If you are travelling on a Schengen Visa, travel insurance is mandatory. In this article, Anoop shares his experience of buying Schengen travel insurance. Note: My limited understanding is that, in principle, it may be possible for Indian residents (without any sponsors in Europe) to buy Schegne insurance from European insurers, but it won’t be…

Recently, some media reports have claimed that the age limit on health insurance purchases has been removed. Is this true? If yes, will this benefit a large segment of the population? The IRDAI circular dated 20th March 2024, F. No. IRDAI/Reg/8/202/2024 (thanks to Kamlesh Rao for sharing it on the Facebook group Asan Ideas for…