Domiciliary Treatment is a treatment done for a disease, illness or injury taken at home, due to lack of accommodation at the hospital or because the patient's condition doesn't permit them to get admitted in the hospital.

There’s really no place like home. It is always where you want to be, especially when unwell. After all, the comfort of your home is preferable than going to the hospital. Especially when you are too unwell to leave house, or maybe if there’s no room available at the hospital. Guess what, your health insurance can cover treatments administered at your home!

This benefit is called Home or Domiciliary treatment, and it includes medical procedures, tests, nursing services, etc. Let’s dig deep and see the categories under this benefit.

What is Domiciliary Treatment?

Simply put, it covers treatments that require hospitalization, but can also be done at home. Say, a patient so unwell that he can’t leave home and get hospitalized, or the hospital is short of rooms and can’t accommodate the patient. Then domiciliary treatment becomes the go-to option.

How can you opt for Home Treatment?

Home treatment expenses will be covered in your health insurance under the following conditions

• The patient is too unwell to be able to be taken to the hospital

Or,

• There are no rooms available in the hospital
• The condition for which the medical treatment is required continues for at least 3 days

What all are not covered under Home Treatment?

The following conditions are not covered under home treatment

• Asthma
• Bronchitis
• Tonsillitis
• Upper Respiratory Tract Infection including Laryngitis and Pharyngitis
• Cough and Cold
• Influenza
• Arthritis
• Gout and Rheumatism
• Chronic Nephritis and Nephritic Syndrome
• Diarrhoea and all types of Dysenteries including Gastroenteritis
• Diabetes
• Mellitus and Insipidus
• Epilepsy
• Hypertension
• Psychiatric or Psychosomatic Disorders of all kinds
• Pyrexia of unknown origin

How is Home Treatment different from Home Care Nursing?

Home Treatment can be taken only when the patient is too unwell or did not get a room in the hospital. On the other hand, home care nursing can be opted for if the patient wants to be treated at home, although can be hospitalized.

Are there any extra charges required to opt for Home Treatment?

Yes, Home Treatment coverage needs a bit extra premium to be added to your health insurance policy.

Pre and Post Hospitalization

We all know the treatment costs doesn’t end at the hospital. There are enough expenses before and after being admitted. The Home Treatment benefit covers these too. It is important to note that it covers only the expenses related to the illness for which the patient was hospitalized. The period of coverage ranges from 30 and 60 days for pre-hospitalization and 90 to 180 days for post hospitalization.

Chronic Care

Chronic care exhausts time, energy and money. Chronic Illnesses like coronary heart diseases, respiratory diseases, cancer, etc. require frequent check-ups, day-to-day care, regular consultation and so on. Some health insurers provide a special set of benefits for chronic care, where one can get the procedures and counselling from home.

Advantages of Home Treatment

Home treatment benefit works for both policyholders and insurers. For patients, home is the best place to recover. While for the insurer, they have better claims control as the outgo is reduced.

The room rent is usually the most significant part of hospitalization costs, which the patients will save in case of Home Treatment. When you add ancillary costs such as food, services taxes etc, it amounts to a savings of 10% to 30% of the total cost.

Do remember, though, that the actual savings will depend on the specific hospital and the treatment procedure.

Points to remember before choosing Home Treatment

• Consult with your insurer before opting to understand all the details of the policy
• Check whether the treatment you intend to undergo at home is covered in your policy
• Be wary of the conditions/treatments excluded from your policy
• Consider your health condition to see whether home treatment is advisable
• Check if the medical professionals and equipment you can get at home are proficient

In a nutshell, home treatment is a convenient option whenever it can be availed. It’s a good option to choose in your health insurance. Because, after all, there’s no place like home to heal.

Want to read more about health insurance? Read this blog!