A couple of weeks ago, I needed to get a small surgery. The first thought that came to my mind was ’how am I going to pay for it?’ Then I realized that I could use my health insurance to pay for at least a part of the operation if not the full thing! The problem with me is that I jump to conclusions too soon. A week before the operation I sat a re-read the policy, only to realize that Apollo DKV would pay for the whole thing. Again being the pessimist that I am, I presumed that either I would have to go to a lousy hospital and not pay, or go to a good hospital and pay for myself first and then get the money reimbursed.
Then my mother forced me to call them (Apollo DKV) and clarify everything. The person on call was very polite and patient. And she answered all my questions—and my mother’s too. Each and every detail was clarified—payment procedures, reimbursement process, hospitalization, pre and post-hospitalization charges and the works. My mother had spoken to them on the phone before. She used to call their Healthline to ask for diet and lifestyle tips for me. I used to tease her saying Apollo DKV was her new friend.
I had taken the plan sometime last year, ever since I came into the tax bracket. Most of my friends had suggested that I invest my money somewhere. And it was my mother’s idea to ’invest in health’ as she put it at that time. According to her it was the most ’noble’ way to use my money. Although I didn’t really agree with her then, I do now. The premium charged by Apollo DKV was really low, so I was easily able to afford it with my 15k per month salary. It was a one time investment and the policy lasted for a year. So I saw no harm in buying it and keeping it as a ’just in case’ tool.
On the D-day, when I had the surgery, after my mother took my health card and gave it to the hospital cashier, I was hospitalized in Apollo. And so my operation was done at a good place but without me having to pay anything. After the surgery, all the post-op charges were also taken care of by Apollo DKV. They compensated the costs that I faced for about 2 months after my surgery. All doctors bills, tests, follow-up procedure costs, everything was handled by Apollo Munich. This was only because I coincidentally had informed them more than 5 days before my operation, otherwise they only take-on 30 day post-op charges.
The best part was that I did not have to worry my mother about arranging for the money for my operation or after it. I needed the peace of mind to go through the surgery and I got just that.