Health insurance: the coverage to use

Are you sure you’re taking full advantage of your health insurance? Services such as online doctors or home delivery of medicines are recent, but this does not mean that they should be used less.

Technological development is changing the world and insurance is also changing, with innovative coverage and services. So, find out the health insurance coverage you should start using now.

Use your health insurance without leaving home

Let’s imagine you’re at home, with a fever, a stuffy nose, and a sore throat every time you try to swallow. Everything indicates that it is tonsillitis, but a doctor needs to confirm the diagnosis.

It’s raining outside and your body is sore. He doesn’t want to leave the house and knows that if he did it could worsen his health. Have you noticed that health insurance can include sending a doctor to your home?

AdvanceCare health insurance has this guarantee in the three available plans. Just make an appointment at home and wait for the doctor to arrive. A few minutes later, the tonsillitis scenario is confirmed. The doctor greets him, wishes him well and prescribes an antibiotic.

You can also request home delivery of the medicine, without having to deal with the weather and queues at the pharmacy on duty. The fee for the consultation was €15 and the drug delivery service cost €1. These types of solutions can make your life easier.

When the doctor does not need to come to your home

Advances in information and communication technologies have democratized access to telemedicine. Therefore, today, it is possible to ask a doctor or nurse for advice via telephone or video call.

Of course there are cases where a face-to-face consultation is essential. However, Forbes magazine indicates that, in 2015, there were 26 million consultations with a doctor online in the United States. And the expectation is that this number will double by 2020.

Over the course of a decade, between 2007 and 2017, SNS24, the National Health Service’s telemedicine service, has already responded to eight million calls.

It’s a question of rationality

The advantages of this type of solution go beyond mere convenience. Let’s look at two examples that illustrate this idea.

An online doctor or home delivery service is available 24 hours a day and on weekends. This way you will no longer need to take time off work to go to an appointment.

Let’s say that, due to your age or condition, you don’t feel comfortable driving to the hospital or health center. If you opt for a taxi, the expense varies based on the distance traveled and can easily exceed seven euros.

AdvanceCare Saúde Base can be subscribed to starting from €7 per month and already includes the service of a doctor, nurse and medicines at home and the provision of an online doctor to provide you with assistance, with the first two consultations free. It’s not a simple question of convenience. It is also economic rationality.

This type of service has limitations

The best way to take advantage of these services is to understand their limitations. There are some diagnoses that require an in-person exam. Screening for infections, x-rays or blood tests cannot be done remotely.

At least in the near future, when connectable applications and devices will begin to appear that allow you to monitor your health at any time. Furthermore, this type of service from your health insurance is not the ideal response to emergency situations.

If you suspect you are having a heart attack or in the event of a serious accident, you should call 112. It is this service that will give you the most appropriate response to your emergency.