What are the Types of Health Insurance Policies in India?

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What are the Types of Health Insurance Policies in India?

A health insurance policy is one of the most essential and cost-effective ways when it comes to protecting your finances. You must be cautious when making the health policy purchase because it is an important decision. That being said, you cannot guarantee the best bargain if you are unaware of the different kinds of health insurance plans that are offered in India.

In this article, we will discuss health insurance and the types of health insurance policies available in India.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is basically a policy or plan which provides financial protection to the individuals when it comes to their medical expenses. Simply put, a health insurance policy refers to a contract between an insurance company and the insured person. The insured person pays a premium to the insurer and in exchange, the insurer offers financial protection to the insured against healthcare expenses.

A wide range of medical expenses are covered by health insurance covers such as the medication cost, surgery, consultation fees of the doctors, ambulance charges, room rent and so on.

Why should you have Health Insurance?

Many individuals tend to underestimate the value of health insurance until a medical emergency happens and they’re financially drained because of it. Till the time there’s no medical emergency or medical costs, you might feel like you’re paying for premiums unnecessarily. But it is important to realize that a medical emergency doesn’t knock on your door before it enters your life. Hence, it is recommended for every individual to own a health insurance policy regardless of their age. 

The sooner an individual purchases a health insurance policy in their life, the more benefits they can avail. How? When an individual decides to purchase a health insurance policy at a young age, they can get comprehensive coverage at a premium cost which is affordable. In addition to this, those who buy health insurance policies get the advantage of tax deductions on the premiums paid by them. 

To put it briefly, getting a health insurance policy is a good idea because: 

• It allows you to receive excellent medical care without having to worry about incurring large medical bills.
• It enables cashless claim benefits so you may focus on taking care of your health rather than worrying about large medical costs.
• It saves your money for unexpected medical expenses.
• It offers benefits under Section 80D for taxes.
• It provides specific coverage for life-threatening conditions.
• It pays for emergency roadside ambulance services.
• It gives children's premium at a cheap price.
• Finally, a health insurance policy protects your savings and you and your family. 

What are the various types of Health Insurance in India?

There are various kinds of health insurance policies available in India. Let’s discuss them below:

Individual Health Insurance 

A Individual Health Insurance plan provides financial support to an individual by meeting hospitalization costs and other medical expenses. This plan’s health insurance premium payments depend upon certain factors such as the individual’s age, existing medical condition of the insured and the amount of sum insured. 

One advantage offered by the individual health insurance plans is that it can also provide coverage to the policyholder’s spouse, children and dependent parents by making additional payments for health insurance premiums.

You can avail a variety of benefits, based on the type of plan, including no claims bonus, no room rent cap, alternative treatment, all day care treatments, in-built travel coverage, international coverage, OPD and diagnostic charges and a high-value sum insured.

Family Health Insurance 

Family Health Insurance Plan is a popular type of health insurance plan which provides financial coverage to the entire family of the policyholder. It’s a one policy for all as it covers an individual’s spouse, children, parents and other dependent members. This insurance is sometimes also known as family floater plan.

Generally, the payment of health insurance premium gets calculated on the basis of the eldest family member’s age. Availing a family health insurance plan is always recommended if you have children or family members without serious medical conditions. 

If you have family members who are healthy or have children, it is usually a good idea to get family health insurance plans. By doing this, you can make sure the insured amount isn't exhausted. The ability to offer big and extended families complete hospitalization coverage is a major advantage of family health insurance plans. The policy offers additional benefits that are comparable to those of individual health care plans, such as NCB, high-value sum insured, no room rent cap, and so on.

ULIPs

ULIP full form is Unit-Linked Insurance Plan. It is one of the most popular types of insurance policies in the Indian insurance industry. This kind of insurance plan offers the dual benefit of investment to fulfill your long-term goals, and a life cover to financially safeguard your family at the time of an unfortunate event. 

When an individual pays a premium towards ULIP, it gets divided into two parts. A part of it is contributed to the life cover while the remaining part gets invested in funds based on the individual’s choice. The individual, based on their risk tolerance and financial goals, can invest in equity or debt funds or a combination of both. Due to this, ULIP is a wonderful choice for meeting the long term goals of an individual and their family.

Critical Illness Insurance

Now let’s discuss critical illness cover. Due to unforeseen circumstances, unhealthy lifestyle and stress, many individuals are pushed towards medical conditions that can be life-threatening. At such a time, the critical illness insurance policy serves a knight in shining armor. 

This type of health insurance policy can provide coverage to an individual or family-members against a wide slew of critical and life threatening illnesses. In case of being diagnosed with a critical illness, the policyholder becomes eligible to receive a lump sum amount. Under this kind of health insurance policy, heart attack, kidney failure, paralysis, cancer, stroke among other medical conditions are covered.

Maternity Insurance 

As the name suggests, maternity insurance plans are meant for women who are going to become mothers i.e., pregnant women. This kind of health insurance policy provides comprehensive coverage for all sorts of medical expenses related to pregnancy like hospitalization costs, delivery costs pertaining to normal or C-section delivery, pre and post-natal care, newborn baby expenses and certain medical tests. By getting a maternity insurance policy, women get financial stability and can thus, prepare themselves for raising their baby. 

These days, corporations add maternity benefits for their female employees as a rider or part of their health insurance plan. Maternity insurance policies in India generally have a waiting period which can range from 9 months to 6 years based on the insurance provider. As part of the maternity insurance plan, the expectant mothers can avail themselves of quality healthcare facilities and their delivery expenses are also covered.

Personal Accident Insurance

People are devastated by major accidents on an emotional, physical, and financial level. These accidents can drain away lifetime savings. You experience shock and financial hardship, and your happiness stops. However, when you have personal accident insurance, you are protected against the financial hardship of an accident. 

Personal accident insurance is a type of fixed benefit plan that protects policyholders financially in the event of an accident-related death or permanent/temporary disability. According to the terms and conditions of this kind of health insurance policy, it pays out a lump sum in the event of unfavorable circumstances such as accidental death or disability.

How to Select a Good Health Insurance Plan?

Any individual who is a policyholder of a health insurance policy will tell you how it’s one of the smartest financial decisions, especially if they’ve availed the benefits of such a policy before. 

If you’ve made up your mind regarding the obtaining of a health insurance plan, it is imperative to know how to choose a good health insurance plan that’ll ensure that all your essential needs are taken care of. 

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind while choosing the good health insurance plan for yourself:

• Make sure that the health insurance offers protection against a large number of critical illnesses.
• Flexibility when it comes to choosing your health cover is crucial
• Even if your health condition charges, there shouldn’t be an increase in the premiums during the policy term.
• For easy access to medical treatment, the insurance provider of your policy must have a large hospital network.

Conclusion

The health insurance plans offer a multitude of benefits. Individuals have the flexibility to choose from the different health insurance types available in India. If you’re passionate about providing professional advice regarding insurance policies, obtaining an IRDA Insurance license is mandatory. Get in touch with our team if you need assistance in obtaining this license in a hassle-free manner.

Disclaimer: This article is meant for educational purposes only, and the author does not recommend any insurance plans/policies. It is completely up to the readers to decide the plans/policies they want to opt for.

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