Regular vs Comprehensive Health Insurance: Which One Should You Buy?
Salma and Rashid Husain are a young working couple in their 30s, and they have been thinking of getting health insurance for themselves and Salma’s mother, who lives with them. They both get lots of advice and updates from co-workers and insurance companies on both regular and comprehensive insurance plans. However, amid their busy schedules, they haven’t been able to zero in on the right policy. In this article, we will know about, Regular vs Comprehensive Health Insurance.
There are also several misconceptions about health and life insurance. People hesitate to purchase insurance because there’s a misconception that claims are often rejected. Did you know that 1.8 million claims were paid out in 2019-20 after the policyholder’s death? Less than 14,000 claims were not deemed eligible for a payout. Less than 10% of health insurance claims are denied each year. It is important to check an insurance company’s claims settlement ratio when you consider purchasing health insurance policies from them.
It’s also important to understand the difference between comprehensive and standard (regular) health insurance policies. Comprehensive insurance offers more extensive coverage and cushions you against the high cost of unexpected emergencies. Unlike regular insurance policies, it provides coverage for inpatient and outpatient treatments, consultations, medical tests, treatment for injuries, diseases, critical health conditions, and hospital stays. Some comprehensive plans would also cover you, at extra cost, for routine dental and optical treatments, ambulance charges, and home nursing. Other plans may provide a hospital cash benefit to cover extra expenses incurred during hospitalization, re-loading of sum assured, and more. Many of these categories of expenses are not covered in your regular health insurance plan.
Regular vs Comprehensive Health Insurance
All health and general insurance companies offer the standard health insurance plan that provides coverage between Rs 1 and 5 lakh.
However, this may not provide you with the coverage you need in case of serious illness. Your insurance plan should delink the cost of healthcare from your financial position.
Both regular and comprehensive plans cover basic hospitalization expenses in medical emergencies, but regular plans don’t cover all conditions and may have restrictions on the sum insured.
Regular insurance is good to cover basic healthcare requirements, such as diagnostics, ambulance, consultation, doctors’ fees, medicine, pre/post-hospitalization expenses for medical treatment if the insured is admitted for more than 24 hours.
Comprehensive covers the cost of health check-ups, critical illnesses, known/unknown diseases, cashless hospital admission and treatment, ambulance costs, daycare/outpatient costs, alternative treatments, consumables, pre/post-hospitalization expenses. Some companies may cover physiotherapy, homeopathy, etc.
Comprehensive covers pre-existing conditions (after a certain waiting period) and OPD expenses with add-ons and a few riders.
Comparepolicy.com can give you useful tips. While choosing the plan, remember that if you live in a metro, medical costs are usually higher than in smaller towns. If you’re diagnosed with a serious illness, a regular plan would not be of much use. The extended coverage offered by comprehensive plans would be more advantageous. Comprehensive plans can also be topped-up as and when the need arises.
Ultimately, it’s left to the purchaser to anticipate what health issues they may face and then decide between a regular and a comprehensive policy based on your present and future requirements.
