What Are Add-Ons In Health Insurance?

Health insurance plans come with a wide and standard coverage for all the policyholders. It can include basic expenses like hospitalization costs, room rents, medication costs, ambulance charges, domiciliary expenses, consultation fees, and much more. But, sometimes the coverage of the health insurance policy is not enough to meet your requirements for critical diseases, pregnancies, etc. Also, there is a possibility that you need some extra coverage over your existing health insurance policy at an affordable price, and to help in such cases, there exists add-on covers which add extra value to your existing health insurance plans with no much price. 

Add-on covers can be bought at any point over your existing health insurance plans. These covers usually provide medical compensation for specific disorders or treatments like critical illness plans are meant to provide financial aid to people suffering from any of the mentioned critical disorders. The premium amount of such plans is much lesser than the standard health insurance plans, and they come with a specified waiting period. There are different types of add-on covers that are available at different insurers some of which are critical illness covers, maternity benefit plans, personal accident covers, etc. 

What Is An Add-On Health Insurance Cover? 

An add-on health insurance cover is a plan that provides additional benefits and coverage to the policyholders on their existing health insurance policies. According to the insurance regulatory body, the total premium amount of all the add-on covers under the single health insurance policy cannot exceed 30% of the original premium amount. Therefore, these add-on covers will offer you wide coverage at an affordable price with not much stress on your finances. Let us look at some of the benefits of add-on covers for the policyholders: 

• For certain medical treatments, you can design and customize your existing health insurance cover with the add-on covers. 
• It provides you extra coverage without buying another standard health insurance policy. 
• You can get more benefits and features from the add-on covers under your health insurance policy at an affordable price. 
• You can get tax deduction benefits on your premium payments under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. 

Types of Add-On Health Insurance Covers

There are various types of add-on covers that are available in the insurance market to meet all the possible requirements of an individual and provide them financial support against medical expenses. Let us look at some of these add-on covers which are widely-known by the customers: 

1. AYUSH Treatment Cover 

Under this cover, you can get monetary support for medical expenses incurred during alternative treatments like AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy). 

2. Zone Upgrade Cover

This cover enables policyholders to get extra financial assistance based on the zone they are seeking their treatment in. 

3. Personal Accident Cover

This add-on cover provides financial support to individuals in case of any accidental injuries which includes disability or death due to an accident. 

4. Critical Illness Cover 

Under this cover, medical compensation is provided for people suffering from critical illnesses like cancer, diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, lung diseases, etc. This plan covers a limited number of critical disorders in its policy, which you can check at the time of purchasing the cover. 

5. Hospital Cash Cover 

This cover provides daily cash allowances to the customer at the time of hospitalization. 

6. Maternity Cover 

This add-on cover helps the policyholder to meet the medical expenses incurred during hospitalization for childbirth. It also includes benefits for the newborn baby which offers to look after the babys’ vaccination charges. Women can also use this cover for their regular gynaecologist visits, medications, consultations, vaccinations, etc. 

7. Room Rent Waiver 

With the help of this cover you can either increase the sub-limit on your room rent  charges, or opt for no sub-limits on it, based on your requirements. 

Conclusion 

The above mentioned add-on covers are bought to enhance the value of the existing health insurance plans. You must carefully check the policy-related documents to make sure that your demands have been met at an affordable price. 

Also Read: Exploring Common Health Insurance Add-Ons

Useful Add On Covers You Should Opt with Parents Health Insurance Plan

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.