Breast cancer is a malignant tumour that begins in the breasts has the potential to spread over to other parts of the body.

According to a TOI report, one Indian woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every 4 minutes. And breast cancer claims one life every 13 minutes.

For this reason, every woman has to have health insurance and get a beast cancer screening done periodically. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy are the common ways breast cancer is treated.

Before you do your research on selecting a health insurance policy for cancer patients in India that cover breast cancer, you need to be aware of these six things:

1. Breast cancer is covered by the critical illness insurance policy

Breast cancer is considered a critical illness, so most regular health insurance plans may not cover its treatment. You may use any online critical illness insurance premium calculator to check the premium for a critical illness policy of your choice.*

Critical illness insurance cover might provide some relief if breast cancer is diagnosed. In such a plan, you may be likely to receive a one-time payment regardless of how much the actual treatment would cost.

2. Critical illness rider for a regular health insurance policy

Even though the majority of standard health plans do not include coverage for breast cancer, most give you the option of including a critical illness rider. This rider will, however, be accessible for an additional amount of premium payment. *

3. Waiting period applies for breast cancer

In order to obtain coverage for breast cancer, you may need to do a waiting period to end. You cannot raise a claim within the waiting period, as it can simply be rejected. Critical insurance plans have a waiting period of ninety days, while most regular health insurance plans have a waiting period of 2 years. *

4. Survival period under critical illness insurance

Every critical illness insurance plan includes a standard 30-day survival period. In order to be eligible for insurance coverage, the woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer must survive the first 30 days of the plan.  *

5. Incur some out-of-pocket expenses

In the course of receiving treatment for breast cancer, you may be required to pay certain out-of-pocket costs that may not be covered by your standard health insurance coverage. *

For instance, the money that was spent on travelling to chemotherapy sessions, diet, and other similar expenses may not be paid by the insurance company. However, in critical illness insurance plans, you have the freedom to spend the lump sum money to pay for expenses that may not be covered by the policy. *

6. Free preventive health check-ups may be available

It’s possible that some health insurance policies may pay for you to get a check-up once a year to help you stay healthy. It may be good that you select a plan that offers a benefit of a free annual preventative health check-up because this could assist in the early identification of your breast cancer. *

* Standard T&C Apply

Today, breast cancer, by far, can be the most common form of cancer found in females. Because breast cancer treatment can be rather expensive, purchasing a critical illness insurance policy may be recommended. In addition, get screened for breast cancer once a year so that you can detect it in its earliest stages.

‘Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms, and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale. ‘