6 Things to Consider Before Buying a Health Insurance Policy

Health insurance is tremendously essential when it comes to safeguarding your investments principally owing to the current coronavirus the scenario as well as uncertain calls from a medical emergency. With a bunch of health insurance plans available in India today, it has become quite difficult to decide on the best health cover that could cover all your needs.

Furthermore, hard to understand insurance jargon, also known as the policy wordings, leaves almost all the policy buyers confused about the best policy they should go for. Therefore, we advise you to take the decision of choosing good health insurance only after taking a few factors into considerations and after understanding a number of terms related to the policy.

Here, in the article, I'm going to discuss 6 of them so that you consider them as important before buying a health insurance policy:

1.     Coverage Amount

Considering the mounting cost of hospitalization and medical treatment, you should go for policies that offer maximum health coverage and maximum Sum Insured for treatment. Alongside this, the payable premium for the policy should be checked.

You must ensure that the cost doesn't go beyond your affordability since it could take a toll on your pocket. There are a number of online aggregators such as GIBL.IN that can help you compare different health insurance policies on the basis of premiums, benefits, returns, and many more among others.

2.     Waiting period

You should go for a health cover that necessitates the least waiting period for pre-existing illnesses. If you don't know this already, every policy comes with a waiting period for pre-existing illnesses.

This means if the insured person has a disease before or while purchasing a health cover, a claim for treating that particular disease can only be made after insurance premiums have been paid for a certain period as imposed by the insurer.

In most cases, the waiting period ranges anywhere from 2 to 4 years. However, some plans may be available with a lesser waiting period.

3.     Cashless Hospitals Network

You can avail cashless treatment only at network hospitals associated with your insurance provider. The number of cashless hospitals tied-up with an insurance company may vary. Therefore, make sure that you check the list of the network hospital for ease and also make sure that the network hospital in your surrounding area is capable of handling emergencies.

4.Maximum Age for Policy Renewal

When an individual is at a young age, he/she may not require health insurance or they may not understand the importance of having a health cover.

However, the possibility of several health issues amplifies as one grows older. This is why you must take up a plan which can be renewed throughout 75 to 80 years of age. Nowadays, many health insurance plans are available that offer lifetime renewability option, given that there's no break in the policy.

5.     Co-pay

Co-pay in health insurance basically refers to an arrangement in which you will be required to pay a portion of the medical expenses on your own and your insurer will pay the remaining amount. You can choose the co-pay percentage on the basis of your financial conditions.

However, if you are buying a health insurance policy, you should look for the co-pay clause in the policy and purchase the plan that has no co-pay or less or clause.

Keep in mind that if the co-pay amount is high, the major purpose of the health insurance policy may be defeated. If the co-pay amount is too high, it may discourage the insured person from seeking life-saving medical care. As a consequence, it renders the health cover completely useless.

6.     Claims Process

The simpler the claims procedure and the quicker the settlement of the claims, the better it is for you. Therefore, consider these two major factors when it comes to the purchase of a health insurance policy.

The Takeaway!

From the above write-up, it should be clear to you as to what you should pay attention to before purchasing a health insurance plan. Apart from the above-mentioned points, you must also consider the claim settlement ration of different insurers. The higher the claims settlement ratio of an insurance company the better. You can check this ratio by simply visiting the official website of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA).

Meanwhile, if you are thinking of buying a good health insurance policy for your individual self or your family, make sure that you compare different health plans online and consider the above-discussed points.