Health Insurance can Help you Fund Organ Transplant

Modern medical science has sufficiently advanced to a degree where doctors can now successfully transplant organs for patients who suffer organ failure. However, organ donors are rare in comparison to the number of patients who need organ donations. Moreover, organ donation is a fairly expensive medical process and a lot of patients cannot afford it. In situations like this, a health insurance plan can be incredibly useful. 

For a long time, most companies did not offer insurance cover for organ transplants. However, over the past few years, many insurance companies have introduced health insurance plans that also cover the cost of organ transplants for the insured. The health insurance policies provide a cashless or reimbursement facility to the insured up to a specified amount for organ donation or transplant. This cost of organ transplants can also be claimed as a tax deduction under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. Under this Section, both the organ donor and the patient receiving the organ donation are eligible to receive tax breaks. 

How Does Health Insurance for Organ Transplant Work?

Let’s understand this with an example. When a patient with health insurance coverage needs an organ transplant, the health policy will cover all or part of the patient’s expenses that include medical, surgical, and pre/post operating expenses. In rare cases, the health insurance policy may also cover the expenses for the hospitalisation and organ donation surgery that the patient’s organ donor will have to go through. It should however be noted that the insurance company will only be liable to provide coverage equal to the maximum amount of sum insured. Any expenses that exceed the sum insured of the insurance coverage will have to be borne by the patients. 

As per a report by a financial media outlet, most health insurers have started covering the cost of regular organ transplants as part of their policies, while only some insurance companies offer financial coverage for the donor’s expenses. As per the report, the most commonly transplanted organs include kidneys, lungs, liver and heart. The cost for these transplantations can run up to anywhere from ₹5 lakh to ₹40 lakh or more. 

About Organ Donors 

While health insurance covers transplant costs for the insured who is receiving the organ donation, the organ donor may end up with the short end of the stick. In case a patient’s health insurance does not cover their donor’s surgical and hospital expenses, they may end up footing the bill out of their own pocket. Organ donors may also end up suffering postoperative complications, which can further increase their financial burden as well as that of the patient. Any other medical expenses arising out of organ harvesting in the organ donor in the future will not be covered by a health policy either. 

Moreover, someone who has donated an organ is often considered a medically high-risk individual by insurance companies. Hence, an organ donor who has already donated one of their organs may have trouble getting good insurance cover to secure themselves. Many insurance companies may end up rejecting organ donors on account of them being at a high risk medically. Even if an organ donor were to end up getting health insurance cover, they may have to pay significantly more in insurance premium payments. 

Final Takeaway 

At the end of the day, health insurance still remains the best option for potential patients to cover medical expenses related to organ transplants and organ donations. These days most health insurance companies have their own insurance apps where you can check out all their product offerings and features.  If you have reason to believe that you may need an organ transplant in the near or distant future, or just want to be prepared for the possibility, it is a good idea to buy a comprehensive health insurance online that will cover all your transplant-related expenses as well as the medical expenses for your organ donor. Before buying any insurance policy, you should also read the fine print and make sure you are getting the exact amount of coverage you need.