Why To Buy Health Insurance Plans For The Self-Employed?

With the growing importance of health and ways to secure it, the organizations have also started rolling out health insurance policies to their employees at a negotiable price. Some companies provide family-floater plans to cover the entire family of the individual under a single policy. These plans provide you with expenses incurred for pre and post-hospitalization, domiciliary treatments, medical bills, daycare procedures, and much more. Sometimes it also covers the income that is lost due to health issues in cases like permanent disability, death of the head of the family, etc. 

Self-employed individuals should purchase a single health insurance policy for themselves as the sole breadwinners of the family. A single day off from work due to medical issues can result in a huge loss. To cover such loss and compensate for the medical treatment costs, you must purchase a suitable health insurance policy and avoid getting financially unstable in case of a medical emergency. Alternatively, you can also buy a family floater plan and cover your entire family under a single policy. 

Benefits of Health Insurance Plans For Self-Employed Individuals

A self-employed individual does not have access to the employers’ group health insurance policies provided by the companies to its employees. Therefore, to keep up your work as a self-employed individual and not risk your financial savings in case of an emergency, you must invest in a good self-employed health insurance cover, which provides maximum coverage at an affordable price with additional benefits. Let us look at some of the advantages of having a health insurance policy for self-employed individuals: 

• You become liable for the benefit of a tax deduction on your health insurance premium payments under section 80D of the Income Tax Act. 
• You can get excellent covers with wide coverage at affordable premium costs. 
• You can plan your finances effectively without worrying about any mishaps or emergencies that might occur in the near future. 
• For medical emergencies, you can get access to cashless treatment at the network hospitals of the insurer. 
• These policies include AYUSH treatments. 
• Expenses like pre and post-hospitalization and in-patient hospitalization are also covered. 
• It protects you from the rising inflation in the healthcare sector and helps you to get quality treatment in private hospitals. 
• You can also avail the reimbursement facility while making claim for your policy. 

Factors To Consider While Buying A Self-Employed Health Insurance Policy 

Being a self-employed individual, you are free to choose any health insurance policy for yourself as well as your family. You can buy any standard health insurance policy and get it customized by the insurer to meet your demands based on factors like a financial budget, pre-existing diseases, etc. Let us look at some of these factors which you should consider while buying a health insurance plan for yourself being a self-employed individual: 

• Research types of plans and compare them based on their coverage. 
• Go through the number of family members who can be included in the health insurance policy.
• Check the flexibility in premium payments and the list of discounts you are eligible for based on your demands. 
• Make sure that the policy offers an option of lifetime renewability of the health insurance policy so that you can continue to avail the benefits of your policy and stay connected with the insurer. 
• With the ongoing pandemic, see to that the COVID-19 expenses are also included. 
• Go through the add-on covers that are available, to enhance the benefits of your existing policy. 
• Make sure that the option of health insurance portability is available so that you can switch the insurer if you are not satisfied with the services of your current insurer.

Conclusion 

If you are a self-employed individual then you can either choose an individual cover or go for a family floater plan which will cover you and your family at a negotiable premium price. Make sure that you read the terms and conditions of your policy properly, to know the inclusions and exclusions of the policy. This will avoid any confusion while making a claim during an emergency. 

Must Read: Top 5 Health Insurance Plans That You Can Buy In 2021

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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.