How to Choose the Best Health Insurance in India ?
Imagine this – you spend all your life creating a savings corpus by working hard, saving up and making investments that grow your money. However, in the end, someone in your family, or you fall severely sick, and you are forced to use your savings to pay hefty medical bills. Doesn’t it sound like your worst nightmare ?
Given the fact that illnesses are increasing, and healthcare is getting more expensive by the day, it won’t be surprising if this nightmare becomes your reality. The savings fund that you created after years of hard work deserves to be channeled to meet you and your family’s expenses, pay your debts and as your retirement fund.
This is why buying the best health insurance in India is imperative. Here’s how you can choose the best health insurance in India
Prefer Family Floater Health Insurance:
If you are buying the best health insurance in India for your family, it’s highly recommended that you buy family floater health insurance, instead of individual health insurance plans. Buying a family floater health insurance is a much budget-friendly option and it offers the same range of benefits as individual plans offer, including the tax benefits. You can calculate the tax benefits using a tax calculator.
Keep it Affordable but Look for the Right Coverage:
It’s a given that you must not spend more than you can afford to on your health insurance. Health insurance premium should always be affordable for you. However, you must ensure that you don’t purchase health insurance that is inadequate to cover your health expenses.
Look for a balance here, if you think you can afford premium for a cover that is adequate to meet your health costs, go for it.
Feel free to choose additional riders to extend your range of benefits. These riders come at an extra cost, however, that cost is negligible as compared to the increased range of financial benefits these riders offer.
Keep Network Hospital Coverage in Mind:
Most health insurance companies now offer the benefit of hospital network coverage through tie-ups with leading hospitals. The benefit of this collaboration is that the insured doesn’t need to pay the hospital bills first. If the hospital is in the network, the bill is directly settled between the hospital and the health insurer, without needing the insured to go through the hassle of claiming reimbursement.
This is why it is essential to ensure that your preferred hospitals are included in the insurer’s network of hospitals.
Consider Sub-Limit and Co-Payment Clauses:
Most health insurance policies in India come with sub-limit and co-payment clauses. Sub-limit clauses put a cap on the amount of coverage that can be used by the insured on a particular medical procedure or for a medical condition.
As for the co-payment clause, it defines the limit that the insurer and insured would pay to settle the bills. For instance, while a health insurer can pay 90% of the bill, the rest can be paid by the individual.
Ergo, the best health insurance in India would be the one that doesn’t have a sub-limit or co-payment clause. If not, look for health insurance companies that put a minimal sub-limit and co-payment caps.
Check the Claim Settlement Ratio of the Company:
The claim settlement ratio indicates the claim settlement capability of the health insurer. The best health insurance in India is the one which has a high-claim settlement ratio. The term refers to the amount of claims settled against the number of health claims filed.
Pick a health insurance company that has a claim settlement ratio of more than 90%. The best health insurance in India ensures the safety of your investment.
Prioritize Lifetime Renewability:
Lifetime renewability is an essential feature that you need to look for while buying health insurance. Even the best health insurance in India comes with limited renewability. Health insurance is an essential product that you would need later in life, i.e., after your health insurance expires. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that your health insurance offers that feature to you.
Final Thoughts:
It has been established that health insurance is a necessary purchase – given that medical infrastructure is getting expensive, and diseases come without a prior warning.
With these tips, you can rest assured that you are only investing in the best health insurance in India. Health insurance doesn’t only offer you medical and financial benefits but can also help you save tax as per the provisions mentioned in the Income Tax Act of 1961.
