How To Choose The Best Health Coverage Plan For Your Family

Health Coverage Plan for Family: Making the Right Choice

The need for purchasing adequate health coverage for the family has become a necessity in today's time. While there are many options available, the goal is to find the one that offers coverage for your family‘s needs. Here’s a list of considerations that you must be mindful of to choose the best health coverage:

1.Evaluating the Sum Insured

Choosing the right sum insured under a health insurance plan is probably one of the most important aspects. The coverage offered by the insurance company is limited to the sum insured amount only. Therefore, you must first evaluate the needs of your family, medical expenses in the city and the country’s medical inflation to choose the right sum insured.

Pro Tip:

You can also opt for a lower sum insured plan if the insurance company offers top-up plans. This allows you to top up the sum insured if the base plan coverage runs out.

Did You Know that medical inflation in the country has been around 17%, which is much higher than the usual, thus making it even more important to opt for a suitable health coverage insurance plan.  

2.Understanding the Coverage 

Insurance companies offer varying coverages under their different health insurance plans. For instance, insurance companies typically offer coverage for pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses, critical illness coverage, daycare treatment coverage, domiciliary care coverage, modern and advanced treatment coverage, etc.
Ensure you understand the plan's inclusions and exclusions carefully.

3.Looking for Add-Ons

Add-ons are a great way to enhance the protection under the health insurance plan.

How does it work?

You can enjoy the basic health coverage under your insurance plan and select additional health coverage, known as riders, tailored to your family's needs. For instance, a rider like critical illness coverage or no claim bonus can help enhance the protection under your existing plan without having to pay unreasonable premiums. 

4.Exploring Network Hospitals 

Exploring the network hospitals of the respective health insurance company is crucial to ensure that you can avail of the benefits and have your claim settled seamlessly in any part of the country. Be sure to check the list of network hospitals to determine if your insurance company has hospitals in your city that are part of its network. 

What are network hospitals?

Insurance companies have partnerships with various medical facilities and centres where an insured can settle claims without any hassle. 

5.Checking the Claim Settlement Ratio 

The claim settlement ratio represents the insurance company's ability to settle claims raised by other insured individuals. You can check the claim settlement ratio to understand how easily and seamlessly your claims will be settled in times of need.

How to do it?

The IRDAI publishes a claim settlement ratio of every health insurance company each year that you can rely upon. 

6.Check the Waiting Period

Those who are looking for a health insurance plan for their family often overlook checking the waiting period, which can become a hassle when it comes to making claims.

What is a waiting period?

Every health insurance company has a specified duration during which the insured is not eligible to get the claim settled. This date is calculated from the date of policy issuance and can range from 1 month to 3 years, depending on the type of treatment you seek.

For instance, the waiting period for pre-existing diseases is typically 3 years. During this tenure, you are not eligible to get your claim settled for any pre-existing diseases.

7.Compare Policies

To choose the right health insurance plan for your family, you must first examine and compare the different health insurance policies available. You can either explore the official websites of respective health insurance companies or simply head to online portals like Paybima to compare different plans under the same platform.