Types of Health Insurance plans you can go for

With the constantly rising health care costs, it has today become a necessity for everyone to have themselves covered under a good health insurance policy. An insurance policy, for an individual or a family, works to safeguard the insurer against the financial risks incurred out of a sudden and unforeseen health issue or hospitalization. A comprehensive, all-inclusive health insurance policy is the only way by which you can escape the financial burden of a health emergency.

In view of this, the health insurance sector has been witnessing revolutionary changes in the kind of plans being offered by the private insurers to its customers. Most of these plans are designed with respect to the actual requirements of different customers. So you shouldn’t be surprised if you find a cardiac care plan in the market or a plan specially designed for diabetes patients. However, what remains a constant with all these policies is the fact that all of them come with exceptional features, one better than the other, making it difficult for the consumers to make a choice.

With a host of different health insurance plans available to choose from, that too with newer features, understanding them can be a daunting task. Therefore, to simplify, here we have listed and categorized the different kinds of health insurance plans out there, hoping to make things easier and specific for you:

Indemnity, in literal terms, would mean a security or protection against a loss or other financial burden, and when we say it in terms of insurance, it describes the intent of a policy to secure the insured or the policy holder against a financial damage in order to put him in the same position as he was before incurring the loss.

Therefore, indemnity health plans work by reimbursing the actual medical and hospitalization costs incurred by the insured, subject to a pre-written amount of sum assured under the policy.

The most basic version of a health insurance plan, individual Mediclaim provides coverage for the basic hospitalization, pre and post hospitalization, ambulance costs, expenses on surgeries, etc. incurred by the insured individual. This can also cover the entire family, where the assured amount will be equal to the maximum limit of claim accessible for each individual in the family.

The most common and popular type of Health insurance plan, a Family Mediclaim covers the family as a whole, instead of individuals. Therefore, the entire family goes in for a cover for a specific amount. So, if one member of the family incurs some medical expenses, the cover for the remaining part of the year will be the total assured sum minus the expense.

The higher the coverage, usually higher is the premium paid for the insurance plan. Top up plans, however are supplementary plans that enhance the coverage of your existing plan at very minimal costs. These plans increase your cover without increasing your premium outgo significantly. Top up plans work like other covers but come with a basic deductible, which is the threshold up to which the plan will not meet your claim.

Exact opposite of indemnity plans, distinct benefit plans are also called fixed and defined benefit plans. These plans have a pre-specified coverage and are responsible to pay only that amount in case of claim, irrespective of the actual cost.

Critical Illness Plans are specifically catered to meet the expenses suffered due to ailments like cancer, which can have consequences apart from just the disease and can majorly drain off your resources. While a basic Mediclaim Plan is hardly effective in such cases, Critical Illness Plans are what one needs. Under this plan, on being diagnosed with a major illness listed under the policy terms, you receive a bulk sum assured to help you cope with all kinds of financial losses incurred as a result of the illness.

Surgeries mean a big cost these days, much higher than the sum insured with regular health insurance policies. Therefore, a Surgical Benefit Plan can act as a rider with your existing plan or Mediclaim, to help you cover the amount payable on surgeries.

For individuals who have a pre-existing disease such as diabetes or kidney failure cannot often avail a good coverage on regular Mediclaims and health policies. Therefore, Pre-existing Disease Cover Plan that covers their pre-existing illness and provides protection when it starts to affect them again. However, such policies provide coverage only after a waiting period, which generally range between periods of 2 to 4 years.

A Unit linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) is a combination of both a health insurance and an investment. So, a portion of the premium (the amount of money to be paid for an insurance policy to continue for a set tenure) you pay heads to the insurance cover, while the other part is invested in assets. The ULIP performs depending entirely on the market performance, as it is linked to the market.

Similar to ULIP, under a Health saver plan, a part of the premium goes towards the health cover and remaining part is invested in a savings account. What make this plan beneficial is the fact that the savings made in the course can be withdrawn to meet the uncovered medical expenses like the doctor consultation fee and post hospitalization expenses etc.

Buying a Mediclaim Policy for your entire family is important to keep the risk of a financial misfortune under control. In addition, to acquire the most reasonable and pertinent health insurance plan, ensure that you compare different policies from among those which suit your needs and budget.

Stay ahead of unplanned expenses by purchasing a good Health Insurance policy now!

health insurance plan to meet the healthcare needs.