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At some point in life, people start planning their finances to live in a more organized way. This starts with evaluating ones’ financial capacity, knowing the investment options available in the market, finding suitable options according to one’s needs, etc. However, a few investments like health insurance plans may or may not give you monetary returns but are necessary to fight health-related uncertainties that might come up during your lifetime. Otherwise, unexpected medical emergencies can wipe away all your savings. Therefore, it is important to start investing in a health insurance policy as early as you can.
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As a beginner, you might not be aware of a few important things you need to keep in mind while investing in health insurance plans. Let’s start with understanding the types of health insurance plans available:
- Individual Health Insurance
Individual health insurance covers only one person. Under this, he/she is entitled to receive the expenses incurred during hospitalization, subject to the sum assured mentioned in the policy. Depending on the policy’s specifications and sum assured, it usually covers treatment cost, consumable benefit expenses, etc.
- Family Floater Plan
Under this, your entire family (yourself, your spouse, children and dependent parents) can be covered witha single insurance plan. Usually, the amount is equally divided among all the family members. Also,under this policy, the amount might be comparatively lesser than the total amount of individual policies for every family member.
- Group Mediclaim
Such insurance plans are offered by employers. Under Group Mediclaim, employers buy health insurance plans for all their employees to help them cope with medical emergencies without disbursing their savings.
- Senior Citizen Insurance Plan
Such health insurance plans are available for senior citizens. It covers the benefits that senior citizens might require as they have comparatively higher chances of getting hold of diseases due to their old age.
After deciding an appropriate health insurance policy for yourself, follow a step-by-step guide before making your final decision:
- Know Your Needs
As a first step, it is important to analyze and evaluate your health care needs and know your purpose of investing in a health insurance policy. For example, you might buy a health insurance planto have coverage against-preexisting illness, unexpected medical events, etc.
- Find The Coverage You Would Need
Depending on the type of health insurance you have chosen, you can evaluate your required coverage. Usually, a good way to make such estimations is to take your salary as the base and opt for coverage that is at least six times your salary.
- Understand The Coverage Offered
As different insurance providers have different benefits to offer, it is advisable to know the benefits/coverage being offered by the insurer in detail. The coverage might vary with your type of health insurance and the chosen sum assured; nonetheless, it usually covers in-patient hospitalization, day-care treatment, room rent allowance, pre and post hospitalization expenses, etc.
- Know About the Waiting Period, Clauses, Exclusions and Sub-Limits
There are a few important things, such as waiting period, specific clauses, exclusions, sub-limits, etc., which sometimes people miss checking and comparing while buying health insurance plans. However, it is important to read through the terms and conditions thoroughly; otherwise, you might face problems while availing of the claim.
- Compare and Make Your Final Choice
After considering the factors mentioned above, compare the benefits and the premium amount across different insurance plans. Then, you can choose one offering maximum benefits at a reasonable premium amount.
Once you go through the above-mentionedspecifications and make certain evaluations, you are good to buy an appropriate health insurance plan.However, remember that it is essential to purchase a health insurance plan from a credible insurance provider like TATA AIG to ensure full-time support and quick claim disbursal. Moreover, the executives help clients in customizinghealth insurance plans according to their needs and avail of maximum benefits as per their financial capacity.
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