Things to Know Before Buying Health Insurance

Due to several health insurance plan options available in the market, it gets difficult for an individual to decide which one to opt for from the available plans. This gets extremely confusing to get the ideal health insurance policy that would meet all your requirements. However, to answer this problem, we have listed down a few important points that you must go through before buying a health insurance policy:

• Choosing the Correct Amount of Insurance

  While choosing a health insurance policy, one must select the amount of coverage wisely as the health expenses get covered for a year. For this, take your age into consideration, the lesser you are in age, the lower the amount of sum insured required. Also, an individual needs to look at their level of income in order to analyze the affordable premium amount. You need to select a sum insured which would not fall short in the event of an emergency and also the one whose premium is not too high.

Must Read: Things You Should Know When Buying Health Insurance for Pre-Existing Conditions

• Network Hospitals

  Before you decide to purchase a specific health insurance plan, make sure to at least once consider the claim settlement approach of the company. Also, go through the list of network hospitals listed under a particular insurance company and its availability, so that in case of emergency you can easily avail cashless treatment at one of the listed hospitals. Doing this would let you spend a much lesser amount at the time of medical treatment.

• Pre and Post Hospitalisation Cover

  Pre and post hospitalisation expenses include doctor’s visit, treatments, tests that need to be conducted before and after the treatment at the hospital. There are different terms and conditions by the different insurance providers about pre and post hospitalisation cover. Therefore, you must go through your policy documents to know whether your insurance provider offers this coverage or not.

• Inclusions and Exclusions of Health Policy

  It is pertinent to go through the coverage (inclusions) offered under a health plan and the situations against which a policyholder cannot register the claim (exclusions). This is because the policyholder helps in determining the scope of the insurance plan. If one is not aware of the coverages offered then this can result in an increase in out of the pocket expenses and being unaware of the exclusions can result in claim rejection in times of emergency.

• Waiting Period

  A waiting period is the duration wherein a policyholder cannot file a claim towards their health insurance policy. This time period is applicable generally to maternity benefits and pre-existing illnesses. It can range anywhere between 9 months to a few years, depending on the insurance company to the insurance company and the policy that you are looking forward to buying. Make sure to go through the applicable waiting period on the health insurance plan you zero in on before purchasing it.

• Daycare Procedures

  These days some of the heath treatments get completed within just a day. Therefore, it is important to ensure whether such medical treatments are covered under your health insurance policy. These medical treatments include tonsillectomy, cataracts, etc.

• Alternative Treatments

  Alternative treatments are the non-allopathic treatments which include AYUSH i.e Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. There are various health insurance policies that allow coverage up to a specific limit for these non-allopathic procedures. These treatments have gained immense popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and various individuals these days prefer AYUSH over the standard allopathic treatments.

• Add-On Covers

  An add-on cover is the optional coverage which can be availed along with a health insurance policy in order to increase the scope of the coverage. A policyholder can select any appropriate add-on covers to customize their health insurance policy. One can get these add-on covers by paying a little extra premium amount over their standard health plan.

Things to Do When Purchasing a Health Cover

• You as a policy buyer must not hide any material fact or critical information from your insurer.
• At the time of buying a health insurance policy you must correctly declare your medical history to the insurance company.
• Choose an insurance plan that offers enough coverage to fulfill your as well as your dependents healthcare needs.
• Ensure to go through the policy documents carefully and get even the slightest of your doubts cleared from the insurance provider before signing the documents.

Also Read: 10 Benefits of Health Insurance Riders

Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.