The Buyt Desk
Health Insurance has become an essential part of financial planning. Sudden illness can play havoc with your finances. Life is not certain and does not run as per our plans. Anything can happen at any time including medical emergencies. Currently, healthcare is very costly in India making health insurance a must for self and family. There are many options available in health insurance and making appropriate preferences while buying one can be very confusing. Deciding on what all might be needed in our insurance policy and our requirements is a task by itself.
Hundreds of options given by insurance companies make choosing a policy a difficult task. A good study and survey are needed to make sure we know our needs and understand what to expect out of a health insurance policy. A policy with less premium may not be a good choice as it has the least coverage, so do not just look for the least premium policy. When buying health insurance policies, never buy what your friends or peers brought. What is good for them may not be for you as the requirements will not be the same. Always study the policy well look for all major clauses and understand if it satisfies your requirements. To help you make better choices here are 6 areas that you must look into before buying health insurance.
1)Hospital Network
Every hospital has a tie-up with a few insurance companies to offer cashless service to the patients against the health insurance of the patient. Always study the list of hospitals the insurance provider has tied up with. The bigger the network the better it is. Do not forget to see if your preferred hospitals are listed in their network and if they provide cashless payment in case of emergency. If you have all this information beforehand, it will be easier during a medical emergency.
2)Capping on Room Rent
Capping on room rent is done by most insurance providers. Room rent can be claimed only up to the prescribed limit. Enquire the room rents in your preferred hospitals and buy policies that meet your needs so that you do not have to pay more from your pockets in case of hospitalization. The insurer will not bear more than the agreed hospital room rent. This capping is either the specified amount or percentage of the total bill. Choosing health insurance with no room rent capping will give you the flexibility of choosing a hospital and room of choice as per the conditions and make a comfortable stay at the hospital.
3)Availability of Co-Pay
Health insurance policy co-pay is a kind of arrangement where the policyholder pays a percentage of the medical expenses from his/her pocket and the insurance provider will pay the remaining amount that is within the limit of the sum insured. As the term “co-pay” is not clear, many policy buyers will just ignore the term and get into trouble when medical emergencies arise. If a policyholder has pre-existing health conditions or is a senior citizen then the insurance company will add a co-pay clause. Policies with co-pay clauses have lesser premiums compared to the ones without. If the buyer is young and healthy and has very little chance of using health insurance then he/she should opt for a policy with a co-pay clause so that they will have cheaper premiums.
4) No claim bonus (NCB)
NCB is a remunerative advantage provided to the policyholder for all the claim-free years. When a policyholder has not filed any claim in the previous tenure, he/she is rewarded with a bonus. Bonus is either Cumulative or Discount on Premium. The sum insured of the policy increases by a specific percentage in cumulative bonus whereas the renewal premium amount is decreased by a certain percentage for every claim-free year in Discount on Premium bonus. Choose a policy that provides NCB.
5)Pre and post hospitalization
Yes, all health insurance policies cover hospitalization expenses. But very few even cover the expenses that happen before hospitalization such as medicines, medical tests, ambulance charges, doctor fees, etc. It is better to opt for health insurance plans that cover expenses before and after the hospitalization.
6)Maternity benefits
Many insurance buyers ignore looking into maternity as they consider it covered under hospitalization. But it is a different clause in health insurance. Not all policies cover maternity and delivery expenses. Also, check on the waiting period, most of the policies that cover maternity expenses have 2-4 years of waiting before you can claim the expenses. Also, opt for policies that cover newborn health expenses under maternity. Study this clause carefully as it has many variations to it.
