5 things are to be noted before buying health insurance policy: Health insurance has become a major necessity these days. We all love our loved ones and want nothing to harm them.Ashish Mehrotra, MD &CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance said that Metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi etc. have high treatments costs hence anything less than Rs 15 lakhs for a family of 2 adults and 2 young kids would be insufficient in today’s day and age. Also, it is advised to opt for a complete protection plan which includes various value-added benefits like OPD, free health checkups, wellness benefits, health coaching, international treatment for critical illnesses, loyalty rewards irrespective of claims, etc. One should also top up their health insurance portfolio with a critical illness plan since it offers a lumpsum payout, and acts as a second financial buffer,” he said.
- Buy health insurance as early as possible:
Jyoti Punja, Chief Customer Officer, Cigna TTK Health Insurance Co. Ltd said that a greater part of Indian population trusts that medical coverage is required only when you feel defenceless against sicknesses. This is supposed to exist under-penetration and absence of mindfulness about the advantages of medical coverage. It’s frequently observed numerous individuals leave the decision of buying a medical coverage want to a later age. They expect that they will remain sound in the early years, and no therapeutic crisis will strike them. In any case, nothing in life appears to be sure, and it is smarter to be safeguarded under all situations. It is smarter to anchor yourself for the duration of your life through all the distinctive stages.
“The earlier and younger you buy a health insurance, the lower you pay for it. As buying a plan at a young age has many advantages like low premium, tax benefit, lower chances of rejection, wider options, adequate financial planning etc.,” she said.
- Check the room rent capping:
Vaidyanathan Ramani, Head Product and Innovations, Policybazaar.com said that the most essential factor while purchasing a medical coverage design is to search for room lease topping. The room lease farthest point ought to be as high as claim repayment would be according to room lease restricted.
For instance: if your room lease restrain is Rs 5000 multi day and you consume a space on lease worth Rs 6000 every day for two days. Here, the expansion in room charges is 20%. Assume your aggregate hospitalization charge is around Rs 100,000, the deductible of 20% will be relevant and you should pay Rs 20,000 out of your own pocket.
“Therefore, it is always advisable to have no limit on room rent in the plan you decide to buy,” she said.
- The waiting period for Pre- Existing Diseases:
Another vital factor while picking a medical coverage design is to precisely comprehend the sitting tight period for prior sicknesses. For the most part, insurance organizations avoid previous conditions for a specific period. The period may depend from insurance organization to insurance organization; commonly it is between 2-4 years. One should purchase a policy which has lessened holding up period.
- Restoration benefit:
“It is important to buy a policy which has inbuilt restore option and automatically recharge your sum insured in case, more than one hospitalization in the same year. However, this is only applicable for unrelated illnesses. It is an important feature especially in the case of a family floater plan,” said Ramani.
- Timely increase your cover:
It is similarly essential to continue expanding the cover all the time so it is in accordance with the rising therapeutic costs.
“Medical inflation is estimated at 12-14% and health insurance coverage also needs to keep pace with this. To address this growing concern, health insurance companies now-a-days provide guarantees 10% increase in sum insured (without any maximum cap) at the time of renewal, irrespective of claims made in the policy year,” said Mehrotra.
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