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Health Insurance
Is there a perfect health insurance mix?
Health and fitness are the top priority for everyone. The growing popularity of diets and exercise routines is a testimony to this and with good reason. Given the rising healthcare costs, getting admitted to the hospital even for a minor ailment can cost quite a bit. This is where a good health insurance plan can help. It pays for hospitalisation, diagnostic tests and even daily expenses in some cases. Having adequate health insurance ensures that finances are not a constraint in the medical support of our loved ones in the face of a crisis.
Let us look at different health insurance plans one could opt for, and how to select one as per our needs.
- Individual Health Insurance: This covers the insured individual's health expenses and pays for hospitalization and surgical costs. The premium is based on the medical history and the age of the individual who is buying the plan. A 30-year-old, healthy individual with no vices like smoking could get an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for as little as Rs. 8,000. Ideally, you should check if the plan offers coverage for coronavirus as well.
- Comprehensive Health Insurance: A comprehensive health insurance plan includes outpatient coverage, day-care procedures like dialysis and chemotherapy, regular check-ups, and ambulance coverage. These are slightly more expensive than Individual plans.
- Family Floater Health Insurance: If you are looking to buy health insurance for your entire family (spouse, parents, and children) in one single plan, then it is best to opt for a Family Floater Plan. Every member covered
under this plan will be able to claim in case of expenses due to hospitalization or surgery. The age of the eldest member determines the premium in this insurance plan. A family floater plan of Rs 5 lakh for a family of four where the
eldest person is between 30-35 years of age will cost Rs 8,000 in premium per annum. If you have the money and want to opt for a health insurance cover worth Rs 50 lakh, it will cost you around Rs 35,000-Rs 50,000 as a premium annually.
[Also Read: Six benefits of a family floater health insurance policy] - Senior Citizen Health Insurance: With old age comes an array of health issues that often require expensive treatments. There are specially designed plans for senior citizens of the age of 65 and above. The premium is
usually higher for these plans. Please keep in mind that most senior citizen health insurance plans come with a co-pay clause. A co-pay clause is when the policyholder agrees to bear part of the claim amount. The policyholder usually pays
between 10-30% of the claim amount under this clause.
[Also Read: Buying health insurance close to retirement may be tough] - Critical Illness Insurance: This insurance plan is different from your regular health insurance cover. This is a benefit plan that pays the policyholder a fixed lump sum if they are diagnosed with a critical illness like paralysis, heart attack, multiple sclerosis, among others. You can use this payout for your treatment, to repay debt, or meet any changes in your lifestyle that may arise from your illness. It can be taken as a rider along with your comprehensive health insurance plan or as a standalone plan.
- Disease-specific plan: Similar to a critical illness plan, a disease-specific health insurance plan offers a lump sum payout when the policyholder is diagnosed with a specific ailment. Some of the ailments for which disease-specific health covers are available include cancer, dengue, malaria and Covid-19. Unlike critical illness health insurance, disease-specific health insurance will cover only one disease. Hence, it is cheaper than a critical illness cover. Both critical illness and disease-specific plans cease to exist once you make a claim, and cannot be renewed, unlike a comprehensive health cover.
- Super Top-Up Plan: A Super Top-Up Plan provides additional coverage over a standard cover that helps to increase the amount of the sum insured. However, it comes into play only after the sum insured of one's standard plan has been exhausted. For example – If your regular health insurance plan is Rs. 3 lakh and you have a top-up plan of Rs. 5 lakh, you can claim a total cover of Rs 8 lakh. However, the top-up only kicks in after the initial Rs. 3 lakh has been exhausted. You can also use a top-up plan to add coverage for senior citizens in your family.
- Maternity Insurance: This option is usually an add-on to your regular insurance plan. It covers expenses related to childbirth, like hospitalization, including normal and caesarean births. This is an excellent plan for young couples who are thinking of starting a family.
These are some of the health insurance plans that you should consider for yourself and your loved ones.
Axis Bank has tie-ups with multiple health insurance companies, such as Aditya Birla, Digit and Tata AIG. Click here to check their plans.
Disclaimer: The Source, a Mumbai-based content creation and curation firm have authored this article. Axis Bank does not influence the views of the author in any way. Axis Bank and The Source shall not be responsible for any direct/indirect loss or liability incurred by the reader for taking any financial decisions based on the contents and information. Please consult your financial advisor before making any financial decision.
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