The escalating cost of the medical treatment should ideally translate into more people purchasing health insurance plans. However, on the contrary, most of us have not medically insured ourselves. This is why about 70% plus medical expenses are self-funded.
People hesitate in buying health insurance citing the high cost of premiums. Yet, on a closer scrutiny of most health insurance plans, one will realize that the health insurance premium is just a fraction of the healthcare expense you may have to bear in case of a medical emergency.
As per a National Family Health Survey for a majority of population, private health sector is the main source of healthcare. With an enhancement in the quality of treatment, hospital infrastructural development, and more urbane care in the private sector, the medical expenses have also increased multi-fold.It has thus become imperative that people cover themselves and their families against any medical emergencies.
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The significance of Health Insurance Plans
We have several financial liabilities in our life like buying a house, buying a car, going for international trips, children’s education, etc. And we keep saving money throughout our lives to fulfill all these goals. But do you know that a single medical emergency has the potential to eat up all your savings? The World Health Organization says that 3% Indians are below poverty line just because they bear high medical bills. This is why buying a health insurance policy has become a necessity now.
Types of Health insurance Plans
There are many health insurance plans available to suit every need, so let’s discover what these are:
Individual Health Insurance
The Individual health insurance plan provides health coverage to an individual against many medical exigencies. In this individual health insurance agreement, the insurance provider covers the healthcare cost incurred by him, for which the individual pays the premium amount to the insurer as decided between the two.
The benefits of the Individual health insurance plan include:
- One person gets all the benefits as provided in the plan
- The total sum assigned is used by one person without sharing with anyone.
- The individual has the ability to add any of his family member to the policy whenever he wishes
- Tax benefit
- The individual can raise as many claims in one year as he wishes, unlike the family plan
Family Health Insurance
Under the family health insurance plan, the entire family is covered. A family health insurance focuses on all the family members and not just an individual. It is also known as the umbrella plan as it covers the whole family against any medical exigency.
A family health insurance plan:
- Saves money
- Saves time and effort as you are not bothered about managing multiple individual health plans.
- Covers the policyholder, the spouse of the policyholder, and also the children.
- Some plans also include parents, dependent siblings, and in laws.
- Can cover 10-15 relationships to the primary insured.
Critical Illness Insurance
With the current health scenario, critical illness insurance is a must have. It has been observed that incidents of critical illnesses are rising, and it is not uncommon to hear about a completely healthy person being diagnosed with a critical illness suddenly. Critical illness is a grave medical condition that not only causes physical pain and emotional stress, but also leads to severe financial burden because the treatment cost is very high. This is why many health insurers have designed a critical illness cover at reasonable prices.
Under a critical illness insurance plan, if the policyholder is diagnosed with a critical illness which is included in his policy, he gets a lumpsum along with other benefits from the against the premium he pays. The illnesses covered are:
- Heart attack
- Cancer
- Muscular dystrophy
- Paralysis
- A plastic anemia
- Kidney failure requiring dialysis, etc.
The benefits of the critical illness insurance plan include:
- Some insurers offer the policyholder a daily allowance as critical illness leads to loss of job and income.
- Protects saving
- It can be attached to your basic health insurance policy
- Tax benefits.
- 6 to 15 critical illnesses can be covered.
- Free health check-ups.
Senior Citizen Health Insurance
This is the health insurance for the senior citizens who are inmore than 60 years of age. Due to the upgraded medical facilities in India, the lifespan of an Indian has improved from 53 years to 71 years in the last 20 years, which means a longer retirement period, hence this plan is more crucial to have. The premium of the senior citizen insurance plan is decided on the basis of the age of the senior citizen and the sum insured.
The advantages of such senior citizen plans include:
- A senior citizen can lead a stress-free retired life
- Under this plan, higher benefits are given to the senior policyholder
- Provides cashless cover
Group Health Insurance
Under this plan, a group of people like employees or the members of an association are covered. The employees can also go for an additional medical coverage too. Group health insurance at times covers individual, spouse, children, and parents.
The advantages of the group/corporate health insurance are:
- Lower cost as compared to the individual health insurance
- Medical certificates or test not needed
- Covers pre-existing illnesses.
- Ancillary charges are covered
- Includes maternity benefits also
- Provision of a relationship manager to handle queries.
- Cashless hospitalization
The more you know, the more you are aware of each type of health insurance plan, which in turn helps you take a prudent decision at the time of buying.
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