5 Simple Steps to an Effective Health Insurance Strategy
Health is Wealth! This is the proverb which we all have heard about. In this fast-growing life, we hardly get time to take care of our health. Without good health, even wealth is meaningless. Moreover, to treat ill health takes a lot of wealth or money. With growing medical inflation getting treatment in hospitals is an expensive proposition. An adequate financial arrangement is necessary to tackle the financial bumps during the need of the hour. Having an effective health insurance strategy will help you to find the best health policy.
Health insurance comes to your rescue at that juncture. A health insurance plan helps you to pay for health care. It provides financial protection to you and your family in case of a severe illness or injury.
With health insurance, you need not have to pay the entire cost for availing of the medical services. In today’s age, it’s vital to buy a health plan to keep yourself prepared to face any kind of illness, so that it does not make a hole in your pocket.
There are many health insurance providers in India, but choosing the right plan from the right insurer is an essential aspect. You should select a policy that covers you adequately.
Here we are mentioning five key steps that can help you choose the right health insurance plan.
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Define Objectives and Goals
The most vital step is to examine your health insurance needs. You firstly need to assess the common medical/ hereditary health issues that may impact the health of your family. To ascertain the health problems in your family, you can go for a medical checkup. It helps you get a rough idea regarding the coverage amount that you may need for your family’s health.
When we think of buying something, we pay a lot of attention to two things what is the objective of buying it and what do we want to get from it…. I mean what is the goal behind buying it, the question is important because on these two things our investment rests. If the answer to the question is not found right, then we do not even touch it. And if the answer to the question is found, then it does not take time to make it your own, see, every person does not spend money on anything until and unless he does not get any benefit and health policy is the basic need of people in today’s time.
The purpose behind buying a health policy is clear that you are worried about your future and you are not in a mood to take any kind of risk, health policy not only protects us but also provides financial support along with protection. Talk about the goal behind buying a health policy, that we all want from this is that we get the full benefit of health policy at the right time, and more than this ‘health policy can’t do much for you’, whenever you need it, you have to use every coverage wisely of it.
Get the Right Amount of Cover
Right health insurance cover is the Sum insured which is the coverage amount provided by your insurer under the policy. The health insurance policy gives an option for both cashless treatment (when the policyholder approaches network hospitals) and reimburses expenses (when the policyholder approaches non-network hospitals). You should choose a sum assured which is optimum to take care of the medical expenses considering inflation in mind. The sum insured keeps you covered against medical treatments as mentioned under your policy.
As medical costs are elevating, choosing high sum assured keeps you on the safe side. You need to make a balance of your sum assured. It’s the right move, to begin with, a reasonable medical cover and then increase the coverage depending on your family size and income apparently.
Coverage of Illnesses
It’s important to ensure that your health plan covers a broad range of illnesses. Your health plan should also include coverage for Critical Illnesses, the treatment for which is expensive and requires constant care and treatment.
With increasing time, we stand at the door of old age one after the other, by this time our body is tired and there is not much liability in the bones. In this time, diseases and new diseases start taking place in the body and everyone starts taking different medicines to keep these diseases away, but some diseases are not cured by medicines and perhaps this is the reason why the health policy for critical illness gives you a waiting period first and covers your illness after it is over.
Insurer’s Hospital Network
When you are buying a health plan, it is wise to know about the network hospitals registered under a particular insurer. You should check the service standard and reliability of health services provided by those hospitals and whether those hospitals are close to distance from your location to have easier access in the event of emergencies. It’s prudent to choose a medical plan having a wider network of hospitals providing a range of medical treatments as well.
Claim Process/Claim Settlement Ratio
Last but not the least, it is important to check the claim process and claim settlement ratio of the insurance company. The intent is to get an easy claim when required. A tedious and complex claim settlement process will aggravate the situation and defeat the purpose of buying health insurance as it will be a time-consuming affair. Claim settlement ratio is also important which defines the number of settled claims by the insurance company.
Claim settlement report is just a replica of the performance of insurance companies, Now, it is not necessary that every insurance company should tell you about its performance, but keeping in mind the welfare of the customer, IRDA releases CSR report every year so that about the insurance company. I know everyone and everyone chooses the best. Claim Process/Claim Settlement Ratio is one of the ways to know about health policy and you can count it as an effective health insurance strategy.
Lastly, Health insurers are offering plans to cover your medical costs and providing a range of benefits to suit your medical requirements. choose the right health insurance plan and live a hassle-free life with the help of an effective health insurance strategy.