A Health Insurance Plan is a provision for Medical Expenses in case of Hospitalization. Health Insurance is a basic necessity in today’s times because of the escalating costs of hospitalization and medical treatment. Because of changing lifestyles and eating habits and inability to do some form of exercise for some reason or the other, the possibility of needing medical treatment at an early age cannot be ruled out. The probability of needing medical treatment and hospitalization increases with age.
You should protect self and dependents by purchasing a health insurance cover as early as possible. The extent of cover required depends on your age and health status, and that of your family members. Separate covers should be purchased for elders in the family and those who have poor health status. You should purchase Family floaters only for family members who are young and enjoy good health.
Health Insurance must be purchased at an early age as our health usually deteriorates with age and with onset of conditions like blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol etc. it becomes difficult or even impossible to get a good health insurance at a reasonable price. All health insurance companies have some waiting period to cover preexisting illnesses. Congenital illnesses are not covered by most health insurance companies.
The Health Insurance cover you need, depends on your age, standard of living, health condition etc. For an average individual under the age of 50, a cover of 5 lacs should be sufficient. You should also purchase a critical illness rider if you can afford to do so.
You must disclose complete health history and preexisting illnesses while purchasing Health Insurance policy to avoid any complications during claim settlement.
You can check the claim settlement ratio of Health Insurance companies as one of the important factors while deciding the Insurance Company. This information is available on IRDA website at http://www.policyholder.gov.in , this is an investor education website for reference of Insurance policy holders (Health as well as Life). You can also refer the other IRDA website for regulatory information at https://www.irda.gov.in.
Another important parameter is the Network Hospital list. It is essential that your preferred hospital is in the list of Network hospitals of the Health Insurance Company, otherwise, you will have to pay for the medical expenses first and then get it reimbursed from the Insurance Company. Some other parameters you may need to consider are, the features of the policy, premium, whether there is a Co-pay required after attaining the age of 60, Whether there is provision for domiciliary hospitalization and to what extent, what is the capping on room rent, Doctor’s charges, Nursing charges, etc.
Mungekar Wealth 