Is your kid old enough and still not able to utter clear words? Do you have any speech disorder that hinders your everyday life as well as your career growth? If yes, then you need to have a look at this blog. It discusses speech therapy in detail and lets you know if speech therapy expenses are covered by health insurance in our country.
Let’s dive deeper into the details!
Speech Therapy - Meaning
Speech therapy aims at treating and curing different types of speech disorders in children as well as disorders. Speech therapists or speech-language pathologists perform these therapy sessions. The treatment procedures and techniques that they use depend on the type and extent of speech impairment.
Expenses Involved In Speech Therapy
Speech therapies are quite expensive. The speech therapists charge their fees on a per consultation basis. Each consultation can cost you as much as INR 2500 to INR 5000. And the consultations will go on for long as speech therapy in itself is a lengthy treatment procedure. It can take months or even years depending on the extent of the speech disorder.
The cost per consultation also varies as per the type of speech impairment. That’s why health insurance policies in India have come up with speech therapy expense coverage.
Do Health Insurance Plans Cover Speech Therapy in India?
Health insurance plans in India offer ample coverage for the consultation fees that you pay for each session. While some insurance plans offer coverage to just children, others offer complete coverage to both kids and adults. In case the speech disorder has originated because of some critical illness, and the policyholder already has that specific critical illness coverage, he will be entitled to speech therapy coverage. Remember that speech therapy is covered by insurers as a post hospitalisation expense. The age limit for kids to avail of speech therapy is 3 to 25 years. Also, a few health insurance companies tend to charge a 20% co-payment on every speech therapy expense claim.
Waiting Period To Claim Speech Therapy Expenses Under Health Insurance
In India, every health insurance plan has specific waiting periods. So, if you have just bought your health insurance policy, you cannot claim speech therapy coverage. You have to wait for at least 30 working days to avail speech therapy expense coverage for your kid. In case you are seeking coverage for an adult, the waiting period goes up to 90 days.
In case the speech impairment has been diagnosed before you bought your health insurance policy, the insurers will take it as a pre-existing health condition. So, in that case, the waiting period will go up to at least 2 to 4 years.
In a Nutshell
Speech impairments can affect one’s confidence and lifestyle. It is, therefore, necessary to get this disorder cured. Not everyone can afford to take up hefty speech therapy consultations. So, if you have a health insurance policy, you can make the most out of the plan by using the speech therapy coverage. All you need to know is the waiting period for availing the coverage for speech therapy sessions.
