Health Insurance
sector in India has shown growth in the recent years, but still less than 20%
people are covered under a health insurance policy and the majority of those
who are covered under different health insurance plans in India are
either government employees or consider health insurance as only a tax saving
tool. Going for a health insurance policy is a good decision, but going for a
health insurance plan which suits your need is the best decision. With the
increasing standardization and government initiative in health insurance sector,
now you have the option to choose the best health insurance policy
through which you can get maximum benefit and security.
Choosing a health insurance plan should depend
on your condition and requirement. The best health insurance plan suggested by
your friend because he bought it can result in providing zero benefit when you
need.
Here are some of the
tips, based on which you can choose the best health insurance plan-
Required coverage
A good health
insurance plan is the one which has the right amount of coverage based on
medical condition, requirements and rise in the price of health care. A high
coverage amount will end up with out of budget premiums while a low coverage
will end up no benefit when required.
Fixed or indemnity Based Plan
There are basically
two types of health care plans in India, Indemnity plan and Fixed benefit
hospital plans like Critical illness plan which gives you a fixed sum assured
if diagnosed with a particular disease mentioned in the policy. It is better
for people who have a family history of a particular disease like kidney
failure, heart attack, cancer, etc., which requires long medical treatment with
high cost. It is also beneficial for people who don’t want a limit on their
medical treatment expense of a particular disease. On other hand, Indemnity
plan covers hospital cost which includes cashless payment or reimbursement
after submission of proper bills. Indemnity plan insures the hospital cost
regardless of the type of diseases.
Co-Pay
There is a clause of
Co-pay in Health Insurance Policy under which a percentage of the total
medical expense has to be paid by the insured person. For example, if your
medical expense comes out to be Rs.10,000 and your Co-pay percentage is 10%”,
then you have to pay Rs.1,000 from your own pocket and the rest Rs.9,000 will
be paid by the insurance company. It is beneficial for people who are healthy
and require fewer visits to the hospital as with Co-pay you get discounts on
the premium paid.
Cover your whole family
A family floater
plan helps you to cover the whole family under one plan and the amount under
your insurance plan can be used by a single member of the family. You need to
check whether your policy is providing a family floater or not. It is best for
people who want to cover their whole family in a single plan.
Check the Sub Limits
Checking Sub-limit
in your health insurance policy is very much necessary. Sub limit is the
limit on your coverage benefit or amount which puts a restriction on the payout
under a health plan. There are sub limit on room rent or specific treatment.
Before buying a health insurance policy, you must check the amount of sub
limit, on which parts of medical expense it is applicable and whether you want
it or not.
Restore Benefit
A restore benefit, as the name suggests, helps
you to restore the amount of coverage if you have already exhausted the sum
assured during the policy. Like if you have exhausted 3 lakhs coverage in a policy
year and, you need some medical attention again, then the coverage will be
restored if it has this benefit. Check for restore benefit before buying a
health insurance policy.
Before buying a health
insurance policy always analyze your condition, requirements, benefits
which you need and never forget to read the fine clauses mentioned in your
health insurance policy to avoid any bad surprise at the time of claim.
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