The most important financial investment you can make

Buying a health insurance plan

Buying a health insurance plan for the family is the most important financial investment you can make, given the costs of serious health incidents. Even before you do anything else in your personal finance journey, get health cover to the extent you can afford.

@nithin shared the following depressing stats regarding this in his tweet

Healthcare costs are heading higher

  • In 2014, the last year for which data is available, the Avg cost of inpatient care per hospitalisation was Rs 26,475 in urban areas & Rs 16,676 in rural. Over 6.3 crore Indians are faced with poverty every year due to health costs alone; according to government estimates.

  • About 8-9% of all Indian households were pushed below the poverty line due to healthcare costs, as per this paper by economists from the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy based on NSO data.

  • Healthcare costs will continue to rise, and the only way to deal with the impact is by creating awareness about the need for health insurance for all Indian households.

https://www.indiaspend.com/amp/health/debt-distress-sales-how-indians-pay-for-healthcare-857077

  • Not that it should matter much in the larger scheme of things as it is just a bonus, there are some taxation benefits that you can avail if you take health insurance plan.
  • A basic guide on some of the important things that you need to keep an eye on when you buy your health insurance plan.
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