Tips to Help you Choose the right Health Insurance Policy

With healthcare costs on the rise, an unplanned medical emergency can leave your savings depleted unless you are financially prepared. To this end, purchasing a medical insurance policy is a must if you want to keep your out-of-pocket expenses to a minimum in the event of an unplanned or planned hospitalisation. Thus, by paying a nominal amount of money as premium on a regular basis, you can secure yourself and your dependents from any financial expenses that you might have to incur following hospitalisation.

While there isn’t a lack of health insurance products in the market given the fact that several general and life insurance firms offer health insurance products, it is recommended that you follow the tips mentioned below in order to pick the best insurance plan for you.

Understand your Needs: Insurance providers offer a gamut of health insurance products that have varying coverage limits, inclusions, and exclusions. Thus, you need to be sure of what you are looking for before purchasing a policy in order to make the most out of it. For example, if you are looking to purchase a mediclaim policy or if you want to purchase a plan that provides coverage for pre-existing diseases without a long waiting period, it is essential that you particularly look for a plan that will give you this coverage.

Compare Policies and Premiums Rates: Insurance firms offer several medical insurance plans with varying coverage types. Thus, it is advisable that you compare the features of a few plans to find one that is best suited to you. Make sure to check for the co-pay, benefits offered, inclusions, exclusions, waiting periods, etc. and pick the policy only if it fits your needs. To get a better idea of the plan and be aware of the policy terms and conditions, it is best to go through the policy brochure, which will be available at your insurer’s office or even on their official website.

It is also vital that you compare the premium rates that are offered by various insurers by requesting for a premium quote. Ideally, you should opt for a plan that offers an affordable premium rate without compromising on the coverage.

Work out an optimum Sum Insured: The sum insured is the maximum amount of money that your insurer is liable to pay you during the entire policy tenure. Thus, you should opt for a health insurance plan that offers a sufficient sum insured. Keep in mind that if you are purchasing an individual health insurance policy for a relatively young and healthy person, a lower sum insured could be sufficient. On the other hand, if you are purchasing a family floater policy for a family of over 3-4 members, you would need to opt for a much larger sum insured. It is also important to remember that your sum insured is linked to your premium. Choosing a sum insured that’s too high can result in a high premium rate, and vice versa.

Check-up on the Insurer: The quality and reliability of the insurance firm should be one of the key factors in helping you pick the right health insurance plan. Make sure that you take factors like the insurer’s incurred claim ratio, customer care channels, and the reputation of the company into consideration before you purchase a policy from the insurer. Also, like how it is important to check for network garages when buying a car insurance plan, it is vital that you check how many hospitals come under your insurer’s network since cashless treatments can only be undertaken at a network hospital.

Look out for Riders: Finding a policy that is exactly tailored to meet your needs is difficult, but one way to customise your policy is by purchasing add-ons or riders that are offered by the insurance provider. Look out for any riders that your insurer may be offering, and make sure to purchase them if you want to enhance the level of protection accorded to you by your base policy. Having said that, it is important to remember that while opting for riders will get you a better coverage, it will also increase your premium rates. Thus, make sure to opt only for those riders that you really require.

In conclusion, purchasing health insurance is absolutely vital if you want to keep yourself and your family protected and keep your savings intact. And like life insurance, it is recommended that you purchase a health insurance cover at a young age, irrespective of whether you need it or not, so you can actually enjoy the benefits of the policy a few years from now when you are actually in need of the coverage.