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Healthcare costs are rising throughout the country, and a medical emergency can easily take away a part of your savings. However, if you are covered under the right health insurance policy, your insurer will pay a major part of your medical bills and reduce your out-of-pocket expenses. Insurers in India offer various health insurance plans and policies to suit different customer requirements. Therefore, before zeroing in on a policy, check the available options and choose one that matches your healthcare requirements and budget. Let’s look at the health insurance policies offered by insurance companies in India.
Types of Health Insurance Plans/Policies
The following are the health insurance policies available in India —
1. Individual health insurance: This type of health insurance policy covers the medical expenses of the insured individual. You can buy this policy for yourself, your spouse or any other immediate family member.
Features of individual health insurance
a) It covers a single person.
b) If you choose a comprehensive health policy, it will cover your hospital bills, pre and post-hospitalisation expenses, daycare procedures, home healthcare, AYUSH treatments, and more.
c) If you are the policyholder, only you can use the sum insured by this health plan to cover your medical bills.
d) You can enhance the coverage of your health plan with add-ons or riders. However, each add-on will come with an additional premium.
2. Family floater: A family floater or family health insurance policy can cover your entire family under one plan and save you from the hassles of maintaining different policies.
Family health insurance – Features
● The policy can cover you, your spouse, dependent children, and parents.
● It offers the same coverage as an individual health insurance policy.
● You can add or remove family members from a family floater at the time of policy renewal.
● You can choose add-ons or riders to enhance policy coverage.
● The sum insured by this health plan is shared by the covered members.
● Any covered family member can use a part or whole of the sum insured to cover his/her medical bills.
3. Senior citizen’s health insurance: This health plan covers older adults or senior citizens over 60 years of age. It caters to their healthcare needs and keeps their retirement funds intact.
Senior citizen’s health insurance – Features
● The policy is designed for senior citizens or individuals over 60 years of age.
● While the policy offers the same coverage as an individual health plan or family floater, it may also provide coverage for home healthcare and age-related medical conditions.
● Health issues and hospitalisations increase with age, so the premium of this health plan is on the higher side.
4. Critical illness insurance: A critical illness insurance policy covers many critical illnesses or life-threatening conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, kidney disease, and stroke.
Critical illness insurance – Features
● The policy covers more than 15 life-threatening conditions.
● A critical illness policy comes with lifetime renewal, so you can keep it active till the time you want.
● If you get diagnosed with a critical illness covered under this policy, the insurer will pay you a lump sum amount. However, you will receive a lump sum payment only if you survive through the survival period mentioned in your policy terms and conditions.
● The policy automatically terminates after you receive the lump sum payment.
5. Group health insurance: This health plan is offered by the employer of an organisation to his/her employees. The policy covers the medical expenses of the employees up to the sum insured.
Group health insurance - Features
● The policy covers medical expenses arising out of an injury or illness.
● In group health insurance, the employers pay policy premiums on behalf of their employees.
● Some group health insurance policies may also cover the family members of the employees. However, employees may have to pay additional premiums for every family member they include in the policy.
● The policy comes without a waiting period.
● You can choose add-ons and improve the coverage of your health plan at an affordable cost.
Other health insurance policies offered by the insurance companies in India are —
1. Personal accident insurance: If you meet with an accident, this health plan/policy will cover your hospital bills and associated expenses. A personal accident insurance policy also covers partial or permanent disability and accidental death of the policyholder.
2. Maternity health insurance: Maternity insurance can be taken as a separate plan or an add-on cover with your health insurance policy. This insurance product covers the maternity bills of the insured, such as pre-natal, post-natal and delivery expenses. The policy comes with a waiting period, so it is important to buy it in advance.
3. Top-up health insurance: If you want to increase the coverage of your health plan or policy, you can opt for a top-up health insurance policy. This health plan enhances your health insurance coverage at an additional premium.
4. Mediclaim policy: A Mediclaim policy covers the hospital bills of the insured, including doctor’s fees, surgeries, nursing charges, and room rent. However, the coverage of a Mediclaim policy is limited to your hospital bills. It will not cover your pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses, home healthcare bills, alternative treatments, etc.
5. Disease-specific plan/ Critical illness policy: This health plan/policy covers you against a specified critical disease or illness. If you get diagnosed with the disease covered under this, the insurer will either cover the cost of your treatment or give you a lump sum amount to help you pay the bills. The insurer may also waive future premiums.
6. Add-on Covers: One can opt for add-on covers to enhance the scope of coverage of the base healthcare policy. Hospital daily cash or hospicash plan is one such add-on cover. If you are covered under this health plan and get hospitalised due to an illness or injury, the insurer will give you a fixed cash benefit every day. This daily cash allowance can help you meet certain non-medical expenses during your hospital stay, such as food and transportation. Similarly, one can opt for add-on covers for domiciliary care, AYUSH treatments, etc.
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Conclusion
If you are looking to cover yourself and your loved ones under health insurance, you can check the available health insurance plans or policies, and make a well-informed decision. Also, choose the sum insured of your health insurance policy wisely and pay policy premiums on time for continuous coverage. Having a health insurance policy handy can ease your worries during medical emergencies and help you opt for the finest treatment without burning a hole in your pocket.
Disclaimer: This is a syndicated feed. The article is not edited by the FPJ editorial team.
