Planning to Buy a Health Insurance? Consider These Factors to Get the Best Deal Possible
Buying health insurance for yourself and your dear ones is a serious decision as the real wealth is health and not pieces of gold and silver. Though people these days are clear with their decision of buying health insurance, they still get confused while deciding which insurance plan to resort to. Most of them buy policies based on the recommendations of the agents, friends or family. If you also follow the same practice, here are some things to know before buying health insurance in India to get the best deal possible.
1. Types of coverage required
Figure out which type of health insurance would suit your requirements the best-an individual plan or a family floater one. An individual health plan is helpful if you are neither married nor have dependent parents, as it covers only you. A family floater plan is helpful if your parents are dependent on you or if you are married. It covers everything under a single roof that too with comparatively lower premiums.
So firstly, give a thought to what you actually require and then proceed further.
2. The sum insured
The sum amount is the maximum amount that the policyholder can claim from the insurer in a policy year. You should choose this wisely after considering a few factors including rising medical costs, and your affordability to pay the premium. This is hence a factor that holds great importance and cannot be ignored. To get a rough idea of the sum insured, you can take note of the number of members covered, pre-existing disease, if any in the family and the existing sum insured.
Whether the premium is affordable for you or not, is another factor to be considered. It lets you plan expenses for the future if you know you have to pay a higher premium.
If the premium exceeds your set budget, then you can go for a top-up or a super top-up health plan to support your coverage while the premium is kept slow.
So, ensure a decent sum insured for your insurance plan before buying one.
3. Coverage features
Insurance companies provide a wide range of coverage features thereby making the policies comprehensive. As an intelligent buyer, it is your role to understand these different coverage features and compare the health insurance plans to choose which one you actually require from the shortlisted list so that you don’t pay for the features that are not useful to you.
4. Limits and sub-limits
Being one of the critical features to be analyzed while buying health insurance, limits and sub-limits should be decided carefully. There are two types of sub-limits-hospital room rent and sum insured on a specific disease. Ideally, you should have a plan that has no sub-limits. This is because, if you opt for a room which has rent higher than the sub-limit, your complete claim for hospitalization would get rejected.
Other features that have sub-limits are- maternity cover, domiciliary hospitalization, ambulance cover, etc. and you must survey about the same beforehand.
So, try buying a plan that provides maximum coverage with/without limits applicable on it so that you are able to reduce expenses in the event of a claim.
5. Network hospitals
Insurance companies have enlisted hospitals which they have a tie-up with. Considering the speciality, locality, and reputation of the hospitals, you should check which hospitals are within the network of the insurance company. These hospitals are instructed with the procedure to settle claims from a particular insurer and cashless claim facility is provided only in them. Having enough information on these would keep you at ease during your claim process.
6. Waiting period
In case you are suffering from an illness at the time of buying a policy, then you would not be given coverage under your health plan for the few years initially. The waiting period is the time period specified which must pass before some or all of your health coverage can begin. The ailment, in this case, is referred to as a pre-existing disease. The tenure of the clause of the waiting period differs in each insurance plan. Some have it for 12 months whereas others extend it to 48 months.
A plan with the lowest waiting period is the best as then you can enjoy all-inclusive coverage as soon as possible.
Shortlisted above are the most important points to be factored to get the most suitable and the best health insurance in India. Other vital factors that shouldn’t be missed are-who is the ideal broker, is porting a good choice, flexibility in the policy, no-claim discount or cumulative bonus etc. Once you are done with the research for these points, you can check the most suitable option to match up with your financial capability.
Also Read
Top #5 Insurance Options to Consider while Planning Your Retirement
