Prices are rising on a daily basis and medical inflation is rising at a very high pace. No wonder, the health insurance plan you have bought starts looking more and more inadequate to fulfill your needs with every passing day. Therefore, to enjoy the benefits of health insurance it is necessary that the coverage amount is increased in proportion to the medical costs while ensuring that the increase in premium is kept to the minimum.
You must be wondering how it is possible. The insurance providers have to pay huge sums of money to hospitals while settling claims and since they can’t pay it all from their pockets, they pass on the increased costs to the insured. But there is a way out of this for an average buyer of insurance policies.
There are a few steps you can take to ensure that you’re adequately covered while your premiums don’t go way too high:
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1. Start Early
It is advisable to plan a health insurance policy early in your life, preferably the time you start working in your 20’s when you’re single or married with no kids. Health insurance companies charge a lower premium when the insured is young as the key determinant of the premium amount is the age at which you are seeking health insurance. Slowly as your family size increases, you can start increasing the sum assured cover.
Starting from early means getting proper coverage and with minimal premiums, one thing that everyone should know is young people are the target audience of the insurance company. There are many reasons behind it, young guys have no pre-existing disease and they all are quite healthy. The premium of the policy much depends on the age and the sum insured of the customer, and a good salaried young guy will get the best plan.
2. Top-up Option
A top-up policy is the most helpful way to increase your medical coverage at a low premium cost and it is 20%-30% more inexpensive than a new health policy. It is prudent to take a top-up plan if you intend to increase your coverage from your existing mediclaim coverage and reap benefits from both plans.
Such a Top-up provision is to provide extra coverage in the case of extended illness or the main accident.
The health insurance top-up plan guarantees that you get upgraded coverage at a reasonable premium. Choosing for a medical insurance top-up offers you wider coverage at much smaller costs.
Top-up policies include all treatment costs due to hospitalization. Such plans can be taken from your existing insurance company or from some other as well. It is prudent to get a top-up plan from your existing insurer as it saves on time and paperwork. Buying a new policy will increase your premiums more as compared to a top-up option on your existing policy. Top-up plans also offer you a tax benefit under Section 80D of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
3. Super Top-up Cover
Alike top-up cover, there is another option known as Super Top-Up cover, with a very minute difference. A top-up cover will come into action only if your claim amount (bill for a single hospitalization) exceeds the basic coverage threshold. Super top-up plans come into action and consider the TOTAL of the claim amount bills in a policy year and not for a single occurrence.
4. Making Right Selection
There are various insurance providers in the market today which may offer you health insurance at a low cost. However, do not ever make your decision to look for the cheapest health insurance plan. Premiums matter, but having a plan with the lowest premium doesn’t mean it is the best one for you. The criteria should be to evaluate the different features being offered at a particular premium. Analyze your needs and understand the coverage, which the insurer is providing you basis the premium charged. As age increases, most insurance companies start charging higher premiums. Therefore, the benefits of health insurance are lost with increasing premiums due to inflation and age.
However, there are certain insurance providers who provide insurance plans that offer plans with level premiums across all age groups. Find out about such health insurance companies and then select the best plan from their portfolio. It is not difficult, just requires a bit of patience and proper research to do it. With the boom of growing online comparison insurance portals and licensed web aggregators like comparepolicy.com, it is extremely easy to compare the coverage provided by different insurance companies and choose a plan while meeting all your requirements at a minimum premium.
5. The Choice
Both top-up and super top-up plans are quite good to cover, but in comparison to both plans, a super top-up plan is the best option to choose. There are certain reasons behind choosing the super top-up plan, it provides the best coverage with a low premium, and it takes the cumulative value of claims in a year. The good thing about the super top-up plan is, they ensure even smaller claims that are quite frequent would be payable, while top-up plans do not offer such kind of frequent and smaller claim settlement.
After knowing about the top-up plan and super top-up plan, still, you think having higher coverage means paying a high premium then you should think one more time. Both plans will be around and you know where to find it, having a health policy is a blessing but you can make it more valuable by adding a top-up or super top-up plan. But in the end, choices yours, because Medical Coverage is a basic need and no one knows when you will need it.
Instead of finding the cheapest health insurance, try looking for the one offering maximum features and benefits. Do your research diligently and then select the plan that fits the bill. Not all, but some of the health insurance companies will definitely be offering you higher coverage and great benefits at premiums affordable for you!