What Modern Treatments Should I Expect My Policy to Cover?

Modern treatments refer to high-end surgeries or treatment methods which help cure diseases which doctors once considered incurable. In 2019, the IRDAI directed insurance companies to include 12 modern treatments. Let’s learn about them in detail below.

What are the Modern Treatments that Health Insurance Covers?

1. Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell therapy is also known as regenerative medicine. Doctors transplant specialised cells harvested from your body or grown in a lab to replace damaged cells. It is most commonly used to treat blood cancer.

2. Deep Brain Stimulation

Dubbed as the pacemaker of the brain, it treats chronic movement disorders. Doctors perform this surgery in 2 stages. The device regulates abnormal signals and reduces symptoms such as tremors.

3. Balloon Sinuplasty

It is a common procedure doctors perform to treat chronic sinusitis. This minimally invasive procedure involves inserting a balloon catheter into your nose to inflate the sinus opening. Recovery from balloon sinuplasty takes about 2-3 days.

4. Intra-Vitreal Injections

This advanced treatment takes only 15 minutes in the outpatient ward. It treats conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and oedema. In this, the doctor will inject the medication directly into your eye's vitreous humour.

5. Oral Chemotherapy

As the name suggests, oral chemotherapy is an effective medication against cancer. This orally ingested medicine (capsules, pills or liquids) kills or weakens cancer cells. Your digestive tract absorbs the medication and provides relief.

6. Robotic Surgeries

Gone are the days of invasive surgeries. Now, you can get robot-assisted surgeries, which are minimally invasive and cause less pain. In this, the surgeon uses a console with robotic arms that carry tools.

7. Bronchial Thermoplasty

If you have severe asthma, bronchial thermoplasty is a minimally invasive treatment doctors use to treat it. This procedure uses radiofrequency to apply heat to the airway walls. It helps improve breathing and reduces asthma attacks.

8. Vaporisation of the Prostate

According to PubMed, Electrovaporisation of the prostate helps men with benign prostate enlargement. It is a safe and durable method compared to other treatment methods. Health insurance should cover this modern treatment.

9. Uterine Artery Embolisation and HIFU

If someone is suffering from uterine fibroids, then these non-surgical modern treatments are ideal for them. These procedures use heat to cut off the blood supply to the tumours. Thus, the tumours get smaller in size.

10. Stereotactic Radio Surgeries

This is a type of radiation therapy which uses high-dose radiation to target precise areas of the brain or spine. By using radiation, these surgeries do not cut into the skin. There are several types of this surgery for different purposes.

11. Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy helps your immune system to find and destroy cancer cells on its own. Therefore, it enhances your body's natural defence system instead of directly killing cancer cells.

12. Intra Operative Neuro Monitoring (IONM)

Lastly, IONM is a monitoring technique that assesses the integrity of neural structures and consciousness. This allows doctors to eliminate irreversible damage to neurological structures.

Final Words

The inclusion of these 12 modern treatments in your health insurance policy is a major milestone. However, check your policy documents to understand the full extent of your coverage.