An emergency can knock at our door anytime, especially a medical emergency. Even the healthiest of people come down with sudden medical emergencies, that one couldn’t even imagine. Hence, having good medical insurance is extremely important to ensure that a sudden medical emergency does not translate into a sudden financial emergency.
Obtaining medical insurance can work out to be pretty expensive, especially if one is trying to purchase insurance for the entire family, Under such situations, family floater policies come as a whiff of fresh air.
Family floater policies enable someone to buy medical insurance for everybody in the family without burning a hole in the pocket.
In this article, we have explained how family floater policies benefit a person seeking insurance and how they can offer more options at a cheaper price.
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What is a family floater policy?
A family floater health insurance plan is a plan specifically meant for families. It is very similar to individual health insurance plans, the difference being the entire family gains from it.
With a single policy, a customer can take coverage for self, spouse, children, and parents within the same insurance plan.
How does it work?
The best way of explaining how a family floater policy works is by illustrating through an example. With regards to the insurance premiums, a family floater policy works out much cheaper than individual insurance policies. Suppose there is a family of parents with two kids. If each member wants to take an insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakhs, the total expenditure would be Rs 8 lakhs.
However, in the case of a family floater, the premium amount can come down to Rs 6 lakhs with each member enjoying the benefit of insurance coverage.
So how does the insurance coverage work? Suppose one person from the above family incurs a medical cost of Rs 4 lakhs, the payout will be made.
The rest of the family members will keep on enjoying the benefit of the rest of Rs 2 lakhs of benefit. So basically under such plans, the sum the insured opted for is shared among the number of insureds in the policy.
In case of a claim, the payout will be made and the remaining leftover sum insured will be shared among the insureds in a policy year. The premium is charged as per the age of the eldest insured member under the plan. A family floater policy, therefore, gives flexibility at the least possible cost.
Benefits of a Family Floater Plan
Well, a family floater plan has innumerable benefits for anyone. Some of the benefits are much above our thoughts and a family floater plan is the best to plan for family health. Following are some of them:
Comprehensive Coverage
A family floater plan provides all-inclusive coverage like consultations, visits, hospitalization, hospitals, ambulance, and various other health and medical expenses. The coverage provided is comprehensive and extremely beneficial.
Benefit for the Entire Family
With a single plan, the entire family can be covered through a family floater plan. Not only spouses and children, but even dependent siblings, in-laws, and parents can be included within a family floater plan. Flexibility ensures that family members can be added even after the commencement of the plan. The coverage continues without any change in premium during the entire tenure of insurance.
Flexibility of Coverage
Family floater policies provide tremendous flexibility. While in the case of an individual policy, the coverage is limited to individual coverage amounts only, in the case of family floater policies, one member of the family can enjoy the coverage of the entire family.
In the above-mentioned example, while in the case of individual policies, the coverage amount for a person is Rs 2 lakhs, in the case of family floater policies, a person can enjoy coverage of Rs 8 lakhs, the coverage for the entire family.
Tax Benefits
Family floater health insurance policies provide tax benefits as with other medical insurance policies. They attract tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. The benefit can be enjoyed by the insurance payer even though the coverage is enjoyed by the entire family.
Cost-Effective
Family floater policies are extremely economical. As explained above, they work out much cheaper than taking policies for individual members of the family.
Comparison of Family Floater Policies in India
We have made a comparative analysis of the main benefits of the best family floater policies available in India today.
| Insurer | Policy name | Age caps | Sum assured |
|---|---|---|---|
| Star Health | Family Health Optima | 16 days– 65 years | 1,00,000 – 25,00,000 |
| Niva Bupa | Companion Plan | No entry/exit age limit | 2,00,000 – 100,00,000 |
| Tata AIG | Wellsurance family | 6 months – 65 years | 2,00,000 – 4,00,000 |
| The Oriental Insurance | Happy Family Floater | 18 years – 65 years | 1,00,000 – 20,00,000 |
| Care Health Insurance | Care Policy | 91 days – no upper limit | 3,00,000 – 60,00,000 |
Each medical insurance provider has its own family floater policy. It is important to do a proper analysis before investing in the right one. Buying an insurance policy is like making an investment. One should conduct due diligence before making the final decision.