A health insurance plan aligned with your needs can help you save significantly on medical expenses and thus provide enough financial support. Such plans protect you and your family from unplanned hospitalisation expenses and help tackle medical emergencies safely. Checking the sum insured is vital as per your medical needs because it accounts for 20% of the overall weightage of your consideration. Evaluating your desired coverage, sum insured, add-ons, waiting period, etc., will assist you in making a judicious decision. Bearing in mind the following considerations will aid you in choosing the best health insurance plan.
You can follow the tips below to stay away from confusion and make a viable decision.
Analyse the health needs of yourself and your family first. For example, if you need medical coverage for yourself, then choose an individual health insurance policy. Go for a family floater health insurance plan if you need coverage for your family. This plan is better instead of purchasing individual health plans for each member. Generally, family floater plans are more cost-effective because they cover all family members based on a floater sum insured. If you want to include your parents aged more than 60 years, then you can purchase a senior citizen health insurance policy.
Know the coverage you want and accordingly choose a medical insurance plan accordingly. Specifically, you must analyse the health needs of your family and determine the coverage required. For example, you can proceed with a comprehensive health insurance policy since it covers hospitalisation expenses, including home care treatments, OPD treatments, etc. If you are a newly married couple planning to grow your family, then you can pick a maternity insurance plan since it provides significant coverage that covers medical expenses for pre- and post-pregnancy.
You may end up choosing the wrong insurance plan if you don’t research the available options. Compare the features, coverage, premiums, and exclusions of different health insurance plans to get the best deal. A comprehensive research will help you find a plan that offers enough coverage within your budget.
Determine the sum insured you need and then choose the plan accordingly. A higher sum insured will raise your premium, whereas a lower sum insured will be unable to cover all your medical expenses. So, determine the sum insured you need exactly. Furthermore, you should consider your city of residence, the age of family members, and potential medical inflation too when determining the coverage amount.
Every health insurance plan has some exclusions that you must check to avoid confusion later on. For example, if you need coverage for a specific disease, then you must choose a mediclaim policy because it doesn’t put the particular disease’s expenses under its list of exclusions.
Before finalising a health plan, you should check the reputation of all health insurance companies in India. This approach will give you an idea of the after-sales services and the insurance company’s speed to settle claims. You can go through reviews of insurance companies online.
Look for a medical insurance policy that covers pre- & post-hospitalisation expenses (for a longer duration). Generally, pre-hospitalisation expenses cover medical expenditures encountered before hospital admission, whereas post-hospitalisation expenses cover the expenses after hospital discharge. Remember to choose a plan that provides 60/90 days of pre-hospitalisation and 120/180 days in case of post-hospitalisation costs.
One of the key considerations is checking the CSR of insurance companies. The ratio indicates the number of claims settled against the total claims received in a year. Generally, a higher CSR means that the insurer settles most claims it handles. So, choosing an insurer with a high CSR increases your claim settlement chances.
Riders or add-on covers are optional, but they can boost the coverage of your health insurance plan. You can include them in your policy, but you need to pay an additional premium for the same. Depending on your needs, you can consider add-on covers like personal accident cover, critical illness cover, inflation shield, etc. Riders like the global cover rider and the hospital cash rider extend your policy coverage.
Your chosen health insurance policy should be able to save you on medical expenses, whether it’s about doctor’s fees, treatment charges, check-up costs, etc. Assess your budget, medical needs of yourself and family, and desired coverage to make a streamlined decision and avoid hassles later on. Remember to conduct thorough research to assess all possible options and make the most appropriate decision.
