4 Easy-to-Follow Tricks To Buy a Health Insurance Plan for Your Family

One very common question I’m being asked very often ’How to buy the best family health insurance policy?’

Today, I have decided to draft a post answering this question.

But before this let me tell you that health insurance has become the need of the day, due to the spike in the occurrence of health problems at an early age.

According to a report published in The Economic Times:

• Over 20% of Indians suffer from non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
• 60% (over 5.8 million) deaths occurred due to NCDs in 2014.
• 25 lakh death took place owing to cardiovascular diseases.
• 12 lakh death occurred due to chronic respiratory diseases.
• 6.6 lakh death took place due to cancer and 1.9 lakh because of diabetes.

Most of the NCD cases, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer and others are diagnosed late, primarily because of low awareness levels, lack of funds and paucity of early screening.

The point is that getting covered under a health insurance plan can enable one to get medical treatment without having to worry about the expenses. This is because all the medical expenses are borne by the insurance company. And in case of a critical illness, a lump sum amount is paid to the insured.

Here are easy-to-follow tips and tricks to buy a health insurance policy for your family.

A good family health insurance policy majorly depends on you and your family.

1. Who you want to cover?

When buying a family health policy, make sure who you are buying the plan for. Is it for your spouse and children? Or is it for your family, including your aged-old parents (60+)? If you are purchasing the policy for yourself, your spouse (below 40 years of age) and a maximum of 2 children, then a family floater health insurance plan is the right option. In addition, if parents above 60 years of age are to be covered under the policy, then don’t bundle them in the same policy. Instead, buy them a new policy.

It’s important to mention that the calculation of the health insurance premium is decided based on the age of the eldest member in the family. Adding people above 50 years to the insurance policy can increase the premiums by 100% compared to someone who is 35 or 40 years old. It’s, therefore, advisable to cover your aged-old parents in a separate policy - especially under a senior citizen health insurance policy.

2. Coverage Required

Deciding the ideal amount of coverage is daunting. Consider the following points:

A. Covering all possible expenses: It is necessary to make it clear whether or not you want to cover all possible medical expenses. Can you pay some amount of the total medical expenses from your own pocket? Can your employer health policy pay some amount? If you have a cover of up to 2 lakh sum insured from your company, don’t depend on it. When you quit or switch your job, this policy will be useless. In this case, it is good to buy a family floater policy with a minimum of 5-10 lakh sum insured.

B. Medical inflation: India’s healthcare inflation has been rising steadily and more alarmingly. Currently, it is about 14%. It’s essential to know the expenses incurred on medical emergencies today and estimate what would be the cost in the next 5 years for the same treatment. When choosing a health insurance policy, double-check the sum insured limit and check whether it can pay expenses for the next five years at the least.

3. Checking other things

While deciding a family health insurance product, check the benefits and features of the policy. Look at:

• Inclusions & exclusions
• Sub-limits
• Co-payment
• Waiting period
• Policy renewability option
• Additional benefits such as auto-recharge benefit, critical illness coverage, maternity benefit, newborn baby cover, etc.
• Performance of the insurance company

Also, look into the room rent limit if any. A limit on room rent usually causes maximum distress. A hospital has a different category of rooms, such as shared rooms, private rooms, AC rooms, or suites. Depending on the type of room you have chosen, the costs of treatment or surgery under the observation of the same doctor may go up by 30-40 per cent. So, it’s good to choose a policy that comes with no room rent limit, sub-limits or co-payment.

4. Claim Settlement Ratio

It is really very disappointing to choose an insurer which does not respond to you during the need of the hour. So it is good to check the claim settlement ratio (CSR) of the insurance company before buying a policy. CSR is the number of claims settled by the company over the total claims received. By checking it, you can know the number of claims settled and rejected by the company. It is good to choose an insurer which has a high claim settlement ratio.

Over to You

The amount of money can be saved by having a mediclaim policy for a family is way more than the money you spend on the health insurance plan premiums. When you buy a family health insurance policy, do remember to use these tips. It will help you maximize your benefits and safeguard you and your family from the financial burden of skyrocketing medical costs.

Also Read

How a Family Health Insurance Plan can Help You During a Medical Emergency?

Cashless Mediclaim Policy for Family? Here Are Your Options!

In order to understand exactly about the policy features, inclusions, exclusions, etc. read the Policy Wordings carefully. You can call InsuranceDekho at 1800-120-5698 to avail expert’s help.