There can be times when you would need extra insurance cover for life-threatening diseases despite having a comprehensive insurance or a group health insurance from your employer. For instance, you could be diagnosed with any critical illness that needs comprehensive care which your health insurance plan won’t be able to provide because of the coverage limitation. At times, a basic health insurance plan puts a cap on particular expenses like prosthetics, intensive care unit etc. During such times, you have no option other than bearing the expenses cost.
Buying a critical illness insurance policy secures you from the loss of income, partial or total disability hospital bills etc. that comes with the acute illness. A health insurance plan provides hospitalization coverage, but a critical illness insurance policy provides a lump sum at the time a serious illness listed in the plan is diagnosed. One must consider the list of covered ailments, sum insured, claim process and claim payment history at the time of buying a critical insurance plan. Here are the factors you must keep in mind before buying a critical illness plan. 1. The Right Size To know how much your insurance provider is charging you is a surefire way to select how much coverage you need. When you know the offered benefits, it is easier for you to decide how much coverage you actually need. 2. Standalone or Rider A critical illness policy can be purchased as a standalone plan but critical illness add-ons are clubbed with health or life insurance policies. The terms and conditions under both the policies are the same to a certain extent. The selection of a standalone policy or add –on totally depends on your requirement. 3. Policy Check At the time of purchasing a critical illness policy, make sure you check the following out so that you reap the best benefits. a.Diseases covered- Analyze the list of critical diseases covered. In case cardiac diseases or any other major diseases run in your bloodline ensure that such diseases are covered. b.Sufficient Sum Assured- Keep the average price of treating major diseases before evaluating the coverage size. Don’t forget to keep inflation in your mind. 4. Maximum Renewability Some critical insurance policies come with the option of lifelong renewability and some are restricted up to the age of 50 years only. 5. Age The old aged individual should buy large coverage. They’re more vulnerable to such diseases, and the health plans suitable to their age are expensive and come with lower sum assured. The policies have rigid terms and conditions like higher copayment and sub-limits. 6. Policy Duration and Sum Assured Generally, life insurance providers formulate policies with long policy duration. Not just that, the sum assured as per these policies is higher as compared with the general insurance companies. 7. Sub-limits Various insurance providers put a limitation on the sum that insured person can claim under certain illnesses. 8. Claims Make sure that you understand the claim process and do check the claim history of the insurance provider.
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Have you ever been insisted on buying a health insurance plan? Are you aware that the insurance market is flooded with thousands of health insurance plans that leave no stone unturned to pull your attention? Well, when it comes to health insurance, Indian financial market is dominated by the plans like Royal Sundaram Mediclaim, HDFC ERGO Health Insurance, Religare Health Insurance, Max Bupa Health Insurance, Apollo Munich Health Insurance etc. If you are familiar with these terms then we assume, you’ve come across the myths that revolve around the term ‘Health Insurance’. Here we’ve debunked some health insurance related myths to show you the actual picture behind the scene:
Myth: To Make a Claim it is Required to be Hospitalised for minimum 24hrs Reality: It might be in some cases, but not always for every policy. There is no hard and fast rule for every illness that you are diagnosed with needs 24 hrs hospitalisation. Some illness including Radiology, Piles, Cataract, Hernia, Chemotherapy, Kidney Stone removal etc can be treated under Day Care facility. Most of the health insurance policies offered day care facility. So, rather believing on the rumours and assuming something that is not real, it is better to go through the day care procedures. 24 hrs hospitalisation is required in the extreme cases when it is ‘NECESSARY’ and if it is then the policy specifically mentions the same in the document. Myth: I am Young and Fit so I Don’t Need a Health Plan Reality: Being young doesn’t mean that you are not prone to any illness, at least you can’t ignore the seasonal one. Though it seems not essential to have a health insurance plan at your early age like 20’ or 30’, you may have caught with any diseases like dengue, malaria, seasonal influenza etc. despite being healthy. If the symptoms are not identified at the early stage or precautions are not taken on time, there are possibilities of being hospitalised is higher. And you can estimate the medical expenses these days. The situation may go even worst if you are living in a metro city like Delhi or Mumbai where medical costs are sky high. Only health insurance policy comes as a saviour at this point of time. Also, the accidental cover offered in a health plan saves you from being bankrupt. Related-: parents health insurance plans Myth: I Don’t Require to Disclose all Medical Expenses to Get Coverage Health insurance has certain terms and condition and not all ailments are covered in a standard plan. At the time of buying a plan, you are bound to disclose the existing illness if any to avoid the consequences later. Every policy owner has to serve a waiting period of 12 to 24 month to avail the benefit of coverage for pre-existing illness. Before that, you can’t claim for any medical expenses you incurred or your claim can be void. To avoid this, it is essential that you clear about all medical history, which in return will make your claim process smooth henceforth. I am a Member of Employer-sponsored Health Insurance and Don’t Need a Separate Cover Every company facilitates its employee with group health insurance plan which covers the employee along with spouse, children or parents. But these plans pose certain limitations. And most importantly, you are the member of this group until you work for the organisation. Your membership will be ceased once you resign. Moreover, the employer can any time restricts the benefits. The sum assured is also not sufficient to meet the current medical expenses, which is not more than 1 to 2 lakh. So whenever you are bound to sign on the dotted line, just consider few things:
Turning 30? Here comes the TIME to take charge of your financial decisions. Turning 30 is a wake-up call for many of us. Some get married, while some are planning for a family. While some reach the peak of their career, some find it a proper time to make some investments.
So, have you decided yours? If YES, is your list include the below financial decisions? Invest in a Health Insurance Plan No matter you are covered by your employer’s group health insurance plan or not. Always spare some amount and invest on a good health insurance plan. It will keep you safe in the event of an unforeseen situation by bearing your costs that may arise out of accidental hospitalization or medical expenses. There are a plethora of health insurance plans like Bharti Axa Health Insurance, Apollo Munich, Max Bhupa Health Insurance etc available in the market. You can compare those plans online and buy the one who fulfils your need. Secure Your Child’s Future Believe us, it is essential! The sky-high admission rates or ever rising education expenses make this indispensable to save for your children’s future, even if you are unmarried. Eventually, you’ll take the marriage vow and bring your child into this world that is your prime responsibility. With the ever increasing education cost, you wouldn’t survive without an adequate education plan for your child. On a serious note, do visit your insurance advisor or devote some money to your child’s post-birth care and educational costs. Being that much smart will help you up-bring your child in a financially secured environment and getting best from your able parenting. SIPs are Alluring Investing in mutual funds is a wise decision! By investing market shares you can earn large profits, -which will be provided either short-term or long-term. Though mutual funds are vulnerable to market factors, the profit earned out of them can be used to pay an insurance premium or invest in FDs. Just learn to play right with those small investments and you’ll be benefitted on long-run. Set a Fund for Emergencies Keep aside some amount for emergency use only. Save some money from your monthly earnings and make sure you don’t withdraw it unless any emergency arises. Term Insurance, a Wise Decision Take those LIC advertisements seriously. These portray how a term insurance plan helps you taking those major decisions in life without thinking about money such as child education, marriage of your children or in case of any emergency arises. Even in your sudden demise, it provides financial assistance to the family. It is always beneficial to take life insurance at your early age, as you end up paying a lower premium. Life is unpredictable. So don’t waste time, take a term insurance right away! Manage Your Bad Debts: A mishap may lead to non-payment of your monthly due such as credit card EMI’s. loan EMI, termed as bad debt as you end up paying them for a longer term. Ensure you are saving an amount from your income to face such incidents, which may double your payable for the next time. It is advisable to consolidate your bad debt amount and try avoiding excessive expenditures. Plan for Your Own Retirement: Planning for your retirement at your young age is good. Try to save and invest in yourself. You work hard to make money. When you are not depending on others at your young age, why not secure your old age as well? You, of course, don’t want to be dependent on others after you retire, right? Invest in SIPs, FDs, PPF funds and reward your retirement with profits. These steps will be proven as assure shot financial tricks for gaining maximum benefits during your old age. Smartly invest at a young age and reap the benefits to enjoy for a long time! A considerable percentage of Generation Y has recognised the benefits linked to health insurance, while a large portion of Indian still looks at medical insurance as a tax saving asset. ICICI Lombard’s recent survey says that among 1400 young people in the age bracket of 25-35 years, 75% people said that they own health insurance. 46% of insurance buyers said that tax deduction on medical insurance was the alluring factor that attracted their attention and made them buy the plan.
Time has been changing at a fast pace and every segment of our life gets affected. The health insurance sector is no exception. Considering the medical inflation, having a health insurance plan is essential these days. A single hospitalisation can make a big hole in your wallet. With a medical plan, you can bear those extra financial hiccups. But it doesn’t mean that you buy a health insurance plan in haste. A plethora of medical insurance policies have been introduced over the time, which may confuse you. Here are few factors to help you select the best health insurance policy in India. Let’s have a glance: Deductible and Co-pay The deductible is a fixed amount that you agree to pay by yourself. For instance, if your policy registered a deductible of Rs. 5000 and your claim amount is Rs. 1000, your insurer will pay 5000 only and you’ll pay the rest 5000. Likewise, co-pay is another important factor that you should consider while buying a health insurance plan. This clause requires the insured to pay a certain percentage of the medical bill out of his pocket and the rest amount will be paid by the insurer. It is not fixed and ranges from 10% to maximum of 30%. Related: Family floater health insurance Benefits under a Plan Plans based on indemnity have multiple benefits including expenses of pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation, inpatient hospitalisation benefit, domiciliary treatments, maternity related benefits, day care procedures etc. Hereby, it is imperative for you to understand your requirement and choosing a plan considering all the benefits. Some plans will add you for additional benefits as well like free health check-ups on renewal, free ambulance services etc. You should consider these all together. Taking up Right Sum Assured Choose the suitable amount of medical cover or sum assured bearing in mind the sky-high medical expenses, the city where you reside in, as hospitalisation expenses are costlier in metro cities than to non-metro cities. Check if your policy covers room rent, surgery expense, critical illness costs, the budget you set etc. Taking a comprehensive view will help you in deciding the adequate amount of sum assured. You should be very careful the time of setting a sum assured. Higher the sum assured means higher premium rate. Waiting Period Serving a waiting period is such an annoying thing. But every insured has to serve a waiting period, which means you can’t claim your insurance during this tenure excluding the emergency hospitalisation expenses. Most common waiting periods in health insurance sector includes:
No Claim Bonus Is not the bonus word alluring? Bonus makes us happy, be it work related or from our insurer. You can earn No Claim Bonus with most of the health insurance plan for not claiming your insurance during its tenure. The NCB ranges from 20% in the initial year to 50% at the sixth year. However, NCB terms may differ insurer to insurer. Always go for a plan that offers a maximum of NCB. So before purchasing a mediclaim policy, go through the clause No Claim Bonus and reap the maximum advantage of it. Well, this is not the comprehensive list. A large number of factors influencing health insurance, these are just a few of them that you may consider while buying your plan! |