Should You Rely On Health Insurance Alone? Family Pays Rs 15 Lakh For Cancer Treatment After Claim Rejection | Viral News

Last Updated:February 21, 2026, 16:59 IST

The incident raised a very important question about whether it is right to be over-dependent on the insurance claim.

The family paid for the cancer treatment with money they had saved. (Representative Image)

Should you rely entirely on health insurance for medical treatment or build your own emergency fund? A post shared on X left people divided over this question. While many argued that health insurance is a “scam” in India, others agreed that one must have an emergency fund set aside to use in times of crisis.

The post discussed the story of a family that was able to manage a costly cancer treatment for their mother after their insurance claim was rejected because she had a pre-existing thyroid condition. The woman, who shared their ordeal, said, “Mother diagnosed: Stage 3 cancer. Treatment cost: Rs 15L. Insurance claim: REJECTED (pre-existing thyroid). But they didn’t panic.”

The Family Paid For The Treatment With The Money They Saved

The family was able to arrange the funds on their own. From the first day of their marriage, they had started setting aside Rs 12,000 every month. Over six years, this habit helped them accumulate over Rs 10 lakh. “From marriage day 1: Rs 12K monthly to ‘Parent Medical Fund’. 6 years = Rs 10.2L saved. Invested in liquid funds: Grew to Rs 13.8L. Plus FD: Rs 4.5L. Total ready: Rs 18.3L. Treatment done. Mother recovering. Rs 3L left for follow-up care.”

According to the woman, the moral of this entire story is “Health insurance fails. Your own fund doesn’t.”

Internet Has Mixed Reactions To The Post

Once her post caught the attention on the social media platform, people had a wide range of reactions. Some praised the family for their timely investments, while some advised otherwise. One user said, “This does not work in the case of chronic/critical conditions. Also, you must understand that medical inflation is almost 10-15% per annum. A better decision would be to invest in health insurance and still save the balance amount in the health emergency fund. Buy health insurance with all necessary declarations and the chances of claim rejection reduce drastically.”

“My son was admitted to the emergency, paid out of pocket as it was an emergency, insurance rejected it, saying we cannot reimburse for diagnostic tests, but we cannot figure out the issue without diagnostics, feels health insurance is a big time scam now,” another individual said while sharing about their ordeal.

A different person quipped, “Health Insurance is the biggest scam in our country.”

Meanwhile, someone else suggested, “That’s why don’t take huge medical insurance with one company. Better to have a medical insurance with moderate amount… Take additional top-up insurance with tiny amount. Invest the rest of the money as hedge fund.”

Grok Explains Why Health Insurance Claims Can Be Rejected

One person also asked Grok, an AI bot, whether an insurance company can reject claims on the basis of a pre-existing ailment. It replied, “Yes, in India, health insurance companies can reject claims if thyroid is a pre-existing condition (PED) and not disclosed at purchase.

Non-disclosure often leads to denial, as it violates policy terms. If declared: There’s typically a 2-4 year waiting period before coverage for related claims. After that, it may be covered, depending on the policy. Always disclose PEDs to avoid issues. Check with your insurer for specifics.”

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