" The most neglected Insurance is health insurance. Most often this tax saving instrument is brushed aside with the logic that after all it’s an expense (no monetary gains) and well we all save for the “rainy day”. So why incur an additional expense? The moot point – Is it truly an additional expense? "

• Medical Inflation: Prices of medicines and treatment are constantly on the rise making it difficult to rely on savings.
• Lifestyle related issues: Increase in incidence of medical problems due to the stressful environment we work in.
• Change in the eating habits – fast food and meals at irregular hours, Irregular sleep patterns
• Dependents: If you have dependents and are overwhelmed with responsibility, the health insurance coverage can come to your rescue.
• Health insurance coverage will release you from the burden of worrying how much to save for the rainy day. After all how much is enough?

“Your work does not end at making the decision of buying a health insurance product, choosing the right one is equally important”

Types of Health Insurance Plans:  A Brief Snapshot

Individual Health Plan: These are commonly known as mediclaim policies. They mainly cover hospitalisation expenses provided it is for at least 24 hours. Usually pre-existing diseases are not covered. Claims for specific ailments may not be allowed in the first or second year. For every claim-free year, most plans add 5 per cent to the sum insured.

Family Floater Policy: As the word suggests, this is a plan that will cover members of the family. Single premium is to be paid for the entire family. The benefits of the policy are similar to the individual health plan except for the fact that the sum insured can be availed by any or all members of the family and not a single person. Thus it has an advantage over an individual plan if more than one plan is required in a family.

Critical Illness Plan- Add on: This product is not a substitute for any mediclaim plan (simple traditional product); instead it is a rider that could be added to it. This rider provides coverage if the insured develops a list of ailments spelt out by the company, generally of a serious nature such as cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke among others. If critical illness occurs, the company pays the entire sum insured.

Senior Citizen Health Plan: These plans are available for people between the age of 60 and 80 years. The coverage is generally fixed and the policy can be renewed lifelong or in some instance up to the age of 90 years. Read the fine print carefully on illness covered. An add-on in the form of a critical illness plan may be required.
Unit Linked Health Plan: This is a plan that serves dual purpose- coverage and returns. Part of the premium goes towards coverage and the balance is invested in a fund that functions like a mutual fund (a mix of debt and equity instruments can be chosen)

Things that may matter

Read the fine print carefully: The devil usually lies in the details. So a careful reading would help.

Product Details: Make sure you have carefully read about the exclusion of diseases such as pre-existing illness etc. Be aware of the sub-limits in the policy for specific expense heads.

Claim Settlement: There are two ways in which settlements are made. Reimbursements and Cashless settlements. In order to avail of the cashless settlement facility, the network hospitals should be utilised. Make sure you have details on the same. Take note of the time you have at hand to notify the required party for claim. Third party administrators (TPA) handle claim settlement on most occasions. At this point, claims on health insurance are very high in India, so if you want your claim to pass through smoothly, kindly follow the rules outlined.

Documentation: For any claim settlement, proper documentation is a must. Please ensure that documents are kept safely and also keep a tab on the premium payments (monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually) else the policy will lapse.

Tax Advantage- An incentive In order to encourage individuals to invest in health insurance, Section 80 D of the Income tax Act provides a deduction on health insurance premium paidUp to Rs. 15,000 for self, spouse and dependent children and Additional Rs. 15,000 for parents (Rs. 20,000 in case of senior citizens)

Remember “Health is Wealth”. We all believe in it.

It’s now TIME to ACT.