If the Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced anything concrete, it is the need for a health insurance scheme. Health insurance had always existed, but after the pandemic, the need became more evident. Suddenly, most people realized its importance and the demand for health insurance surged. Even if we discount the impact the pandemic has had on our minds, a health insurance policy is essential to your financial planning.
Summary:
- Why choose a health insurance plan?
- Health insurance plans for your family
- How to choose a health insurance plan for your family?
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| How to Choose a Health Insurance Plan for Your Family? |
Why choose a health insurance plan?
The reason is mainly due to the increase in lifestyle-related diseases and their expensive treatments. In addition to illnesses, there are risks of accidental injury or other medical contingencies. When you suffer from a medical emergency, the financial outflow is considerable, not least because it cannot be postponed or ignored.
Medical costs do create financial pressure. They weigh on a person's financial goals. Indeed, medical inflation is on the rise and treatments are more and more expensive. It is often estimated at around 15% per year.
To cover such expenses, a health insurance plan becomes imperative. Health insurance plans cover medical expenses incurred during hospitalization. So they provide you with much-needed financial assistance in the event of a medical emergency and protect your savings.
Health insurance plans for your family
Medical emergencies can strike any member of your family. So you need a health insurance plan that covers all your family members so that if one of them gets sick, the police will come to your financial rescue.
There are different types of health insurance plans in India, with a variety of benefits attached to them. However, when buying a health insurance plan for your family, you should choose it with great care. You need to consider several aspects before finalizing the plan. This will allow you to ensure that the policy is complete and provides adequate coverage for your family.
If you need help choosing the right health insurance plan for your family, below is a guide to help you do so.
Health insurance plans are offered as floating family health insurance plans. These plans cover multiple family members under one policy. You can get coverage for
- Yourself
- your partner
- dependent children
- dependent parents.
Additionally, some plans extend coverage to in-laws, siblings, and other extended family members. So, if you are looking to cover your entire family, you can opt for the floating family health insurance plans.
How to choose a health insurance plan for your family?
Here is an accurate guide to choosing the right health insurance plan for your family.
Step 1: Choose the right font
Health insurance plans come in different variants and each variant provides a specific type of coverage. So the next step is to choose the right font for your family. Here are the most common health insurance plans
Individual Health Plans
Health insurance plans that cover a single person with a single sum insured. This is a compensatory health insurance plan in which the claim for reimbursement relates only to hospitalization costs.
Tip:
If you are looking for a plan for yourself or just one member of your family, you can opt for this type of plan.
Family Floating Plans
Health insurance plans that cover all family members with one sum insured. Family floating plans provide umbrella coverage, so each person can claim up to the full sum insured.
Tip:
Family floating plans are generally less expensive than individual family member insurance. This is especially true for a young family.
Plans for seniors
Health insurance plans that cover people aged 60 and over. As this plan is specifically for older people, it usually covers all the benefits they need, like outpatient treatment coverage, pre-existing condition coverage, etc.
Tip:
This type of plan can be purchased for your parents.
Disease-specific plans
Health insurance plans intended to cover specific diseases and their complications, such as dengue fever, heart disease, Covid disease, etc.
Tip:
This type of plan covers a specific risk and is usually less expensive. It can therefore be taken out at the same time as an indemnity health insurance plan.
Critical illness plans
Health insurance plans cover specific critical illnesses and pay out the sum insured all at once if the insured suffers from a covered illness like heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc.
These plans are usually fixed benefit plans, meaning that if you are diagnosed with a serious illness, the full amount will be paid regardless of how much is spent on treatment.
Tip:
This plan can be taken out at the same time as an indemnity health insurance plan for better coverage.
Complementary and super-complementary plans
There are supplemental health insurance plans that come with a deductible limit. Claims that exceed the deductible are supported by these plans.
Tip:
Opting for a supplementary or super supplementary health insurance plan is the cheapest way to improve your existing health insurance coverage.
Ideally, you can opt for a floating family policy covering yourself, your spouse, and your dependent children. If you have dependent relatives, you can opt for a separate senior policy for them.
Even in the case of dependent children, remember that the family floating policy covers them until they are 23 or 25 years old. Once your children cross this age, a separate health insurance plan is required for them in most plans.
In addition to an indemnity health insurance plan for your family, a critical illness insurance plan is also recommended. This policy will cover dreaded illnesses, which have become common lately and will pay you a lump sum to cover expensive treatment costs. So you can opt for a critical illness insurance policy for full coverage of your family.
Step 2: Choose an adequate face amount
To find the correct sum insured for your health insurance plan, you need to determine the total number of members that need to be covered. You must therefore choose a sum insured sufficiently to cover the expected medical expenses for all family members.
With rising medical costs and medical inflation, a high insured amount is desirable. However, a high sum insured also leads to a high premium. Therefore, if affordability becomes an issue, you can opt for supplemental or super supplemental health insurance plans to increase the coverage limit without shelling out a hefty premium.
A supplemental or super supplemental insurance policy acts as an additional health plan. The policy has a deductible limit. Claims for reimbursement up to the deductible limit are not paid. However, if claims exceed the deductible limit, the supplemental or super supplemental plan pays the excess claim.
However, a supplemental health insurance plan considers the deductible for each individual claim, while a super supplemental plan considers the deductible as a whole.
Step 3: Look for comprehensive coverage warranties
The next step in buying the best health plan for the family is to make sure the plan has all the necessary guarantees. It is important to ensure comprehensive coverage so that all possible medical costs are covered. Also, when looking at coverage warranties, you need to make sure they are suitable for your needs.
For example, a newly married couple must opt for a health plan with maternity benefits. Thanks to this coverage, when you have a child, the costs related to the birth will be covered by the plan and you will not have to face a financial burden.
Likewise, if you frequently have to deal with transaction fees, plans that cover these fees are beneficial.
Step 4: Check limits and sub-limits
Some health insurance plans have sub-limits on room rent, especially for the lower insured amounts. If there is a sub-limit, it restricts the overall coverage. If you opt for a room whose rent is higher than the authorized sub-limit, your request for reimbursement of hospitalization costs will be reduced proportionally. However, plans with no sub-limits are usually more expensive.
Similarly, certain coverage benefits may be limited. Among common benefits for which sub-limits may apply.
Tip:
When purchasing a health insurance plan for your family, check the applicable sub-limits and limits. Try to opt for plans that have no sub-limits on room rent and other expenses.
Step 5: Opt for coverage endorsements
Health insurance plans make it possible to benefit from optional guarantees. These benefits are called endorsements and are available for an additional premium. Riders are optional in nature and can be chosen when taking out or renewing your policy.
Riders provide additional coverage for a very low premium amount. They improve the scope of coverage of the health insurance policy and are recommended.
Tip:
Riders are usually a cheap way to increase coverage. When buying health insurance for your family, check for available endorsements. Choose the riders that match your coverage needs and that will allow you to receive full coverage from your health insurance plan.
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