Top 5 Questions to Ask Yourself While Buying Health Insurance
Has it been long that you have been contemplating the purchase of health insurance? Have you until now, always ignored the significance of health insurance in your life? If today, you want to bring about a big change in your life and purchase health insurance, make sure you do it the right way.
Before you go ahead with the search for an ideal health insurance policy, it would be important for you to know the actual meaning of a perfect health insurance policy. While you may be given numerous options of cheap health insurance plans, it would be essential on your part to identify what truly is perfect for you.
Here are a few questions that you must ask yourself before purchasing a health insurance policy.
Top 5 Questions to Ask Yourself While Buying Health Insurance
- Policy Type?
The first thing that should come to your mind while buying health insurance is the policy type. Decide whether you want to go with individual policy or a family health insurance plan? Remember to keep all your family members and their specific medical requirements in mind while deciding the policy type. Remember, the premium amount would also depend on the policy type you go with.
- Sum Insured?
It is important for you to choose the sum insured amount correctly. It is because your coverage amount will decide up to which extent your health insurance company will pay for your expenses. It is advised to pick a coverage amount in sync with your budget so that you are not left with a shortage of sum insured when the need arises as well as do not face financial instability. Remember, your coverage benefits as well as premium will vary based on the sum insured amount.
- Inclusions & Exclusions?
Whether or not a health insurance policy suits you well is something that you will decide by studying the inclusions and exclusions. Analyse all your inclusions requirements and think of coverage features you won’t mind not being covered for. Then, perform comparison with the policy you are interested in.
Take note that it would be best to check inclusions thoroughly while reading the policy wordings because in case you miss a feature or interpret anything wrong, you may find yourself disappointed at the time of filing a claim. The same applies to exclusions. Talking about the inclusions to check, ensure that your policy offers inpatient treatment, pre & post hospitalization expenses, ambulance charges, and day care treatment without fail. Rest of the requirements such as OPD expenses, domiciliary hospitalization, maternity & newborn baby cover and others like the same may or may not be covered by a health insurance company and you may or may not buy it as per your needs. While buying a policy, do not neglect exclusions because what you may want covered may be an exclusion under a policy.
- Yearly Payment or Payment in Installments?
Ever since IRDAI has allowed payment in installments of annual health insurance premiums, health insurance policy buyers have started to think of paying in the same way. If buying a health insurance policy, analyse whether it would be comfortable for you to pay the premium amount on an annual basis or whether you would be fine with payment in installments. If you choose the latter, would it be monthly, quarterly or half-yearly?
- Premium?
Last but not the least, based on your financial situation, analyse the maximum premium you can pay to get yourself or your loved ones covered under a health insurance policy. While you may find numerous policies offering various benefits at very low premium cost, remember you may not be adequately covered as desired. Also, even if you have to pay a bit extra to ensure 100% health protection of yourself and your family, go ahead so that you do not regret not having enough money to avail proper treatment. At last, make sure your premium stays within the limits that you pocket allows. Remember, it is all about balance.
Conclusion
While you may know what all to ask yourself before making the final health insurance choice, learn that there are numerous other aspects that would require your attention too. Co-payment, sub-limits, health insurance company’s CSR, claim settlement process, and many more. No matter what policy you choose to go with, make sure you read the Policy Wordings carefully before going ahead with the purchase.
Read More:
10 Benefits of Buying Health Insurance In 2021
Top 8 Family Health Insurance Policies You Should Consider in 2021
Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.
