Prakash, age 36, was a settled businessman who lived with his family in a metropolitan city of India. His work lifestyle did not give him much time to follow a health regime or take care of his diet. It soon led to disorders, and he suffered from a minor heart attack which led to hospitalization. Despite the crisis, the family quickly took care of all the expenses. It became possible as the family had the best health insurance plan. Their health insurance policy helped them manage all the costs, including those incurred after the discharge.
In today’s time, a health insurance policy is an asset you pay an annual premium, and it is a kind of savings that pays you when you bear the brunt of a health crisis.
For your information, let us understand what a health insurance policy is and how can it help?
What is a health insurance policy?
A health insurance policy is an assurance provided by the insurance company to cover all the medical expenses arising from Illness. These expenses include hospitalization costs, charges of medicines, doctor consultation fees, post, and pre-hospitalization expenses.
In India, the gross written health insurance premium was above US 8 billion dollars in 2021. This total was nearly 13.7% more than that from the previous. Primary reasons that have led to this increase in the policy purchase are:
- Rise in awareness about health insurance.
- Better knowledge on benefits and the scope of cover that can cover the cost of hospitalization.
- Availability of multiple products that individuals can easily purchase.
- Affordable health insurance policies that could satisfy the demand of buyers.
- Abrupt escalation in the cost of health facilities can lead to heavily taxing the savings for anyone.
- Health insurance brought in the convenience to handle the expenses which came up abruptly.
The rise in the purchase of health insurance products indicates that the population in India can understand the relevance of insurance covers when the cost of healthcare is high. When Covid-19 struck the territory of India (in 2019 till today), it taught millions an unexpected and brutal lesson that it will be just your financial planning that can save you from the crisis.
The masses should realize the importance of health insurance, and now they spend money to purchase health insurance products. Essentially, a health insurance policy in India is available in two categories:
- Mediclaim Policy
- Critical Illness Policy
Mediclaim policy is the primary insurance type that covers the cost of hospitalization and treatment when you are admitted to the hospital. The policy benefits you by paying your claim amount after deducting the excess limits. An ordinary mediclaim policy reimburses the hospitalization cost and the doctor’s consultation fees.
On the other hand, under the Critical Illness Policy, you get the cover for life-threatening diseases. The cost of treatment for any critical illness is high, which can leave your family financially strained when you are already emotionally devastated. The amount of payout received from the critical illness policy can deal with the EMIs. In addition, your family can use the payout to manage the expenses which otherwise were compromised for your treatment.
Hence, a critical illness policy has become essential as basic health insurance. The relevance has increased as:
- Critical Illness can pull your savings and flush your savings in no time.
- The payout of the critical illness policy can be a tremendous financial support to your family.
Buying a health insurance policy alone does not suffice because critical illness cases have increased manifold.
On average, nearly 1300 Indians succumb to deadly critical diseases like cancer every day. Critical Illness can hit anyone regardless of age, gender or status. No matter how much we care about the diet and the lifestyle, most of the lifestyle products we use have cancer-causing compounds. In short, the occurrence of the disease has become inescapable.
Though ignoring the use of such products is the obvious solution, preparing finances for the tragic times is another. Are you still indecisive about buying a health plan for critical Illness? Read this.
- A common health insurance policy is the prime requisite, while critical Illness is an associated need.
- The intent is to prevent your family from suffering the burden of high medical costs. For example, suppose you are the only earning family member and fall sick with a disease like cancer; your entire savings are most likely to be drained. In such a case, the primary health insurance will only care for the hospitalization, whereas the critical illness plan will pay you a lump sum for treatment.
Buying these policies at an early age is again a wise decision as:
- When you are young, the chances of getting your mediclaim proposal rejected are less.
- You pay less premium at a young age than when you are old or more prone to catching diseases.
- Other benefits under the policy keep adding.
If this aspect of insurance is clear to you, we must concentrate on other factors that can affect policy premiums for health plans that offer you protection for unexpected expenses.
Health insurance policies are not exhaustive of the coverage limit when looking for a more comprehensive cover. Your policy will not suffice, especially when you have a family history of cancer and know that you won’t be capable of paying all the expenses if a situation like this arises.
Before you consider the health plans, let us see the factors that affect the life insurance premium for a health plan.
Factors that affect the Life Insurance Premium.
Health insurance will save you from losing your savings when hospitalization and other treatments due to illnesses get inevitable. It is like investing your money in your healthcare expenses.
There could be nothing better than leaving lump sum money in savings or insurance for your family. It helps them take care of the sudden unplanned expenses like treatment or illnesses.
If you want to make a conscious effort for your family and save some money for your healthcare, know that buying a health plan as your life insurance cover is also an alternative option. Having a basic health insurance policy may not suffice more than paying you for the hospitalization cost. Therefore, it is better to purchase an additional health plan available with life insurance companies. But before we move on to that, you must be aware of how the premium is dependent on several factors. Also, you must know which the best health insurance plans are.
Buying a policy is easy but understand that the premium for any life insurance policy is dependent on these factors.
1. Lifestyle
If you are a less conscious person who does not care for the lifestyle, the chances are that you may acquire or suffer from diseases like diabetes and thyroid. When you have a weak body, you are more likely to get sick, which increases the chances of life risks. This is the reason you would want a life insurance policy. The policy will help the dependents in the family take care of the expenses when you are not alive. But if you have a poor lifestyle, the insurance company will treat you as a high-risk proposer for them, and this is because it will lead you to pay a higher premium.
2. Health
Similar to lifestyle factors, if you are already in a poor state of health, trust that the insurance company will load your premium. Apart from the health condition, if you carry a medical history of illnesses, the insurance company will cover your terms and conditions.
3. Age
At a young age, you will get life insurance quickly and at an affordable cost. Insurance companies have a simple rule, younger age implies a lesser probability of Illness and hence lower the premium is. On the other hand, people of a higher age will have to pay a higher premium as they have a greater risk of suffering.
4. Gender
Gender makes for another premium computing factor. Females are considered less exposed to alcohol, smoke, and other abusive substances. Adding to it, they keep safety in priority and do not go overboard with adventures or sports. This makes them a safer candidate for offering them a life insurance plan. Other than the habits, the average life expectancy age in women in India is 80 and is 70 for men. This makes women better candidates who can pay fewer premiums.
5. Hobbies
Hobbies can at times create life concerning issues. For example, if adventure is your hobby, it indicates that you lead a risk-prone life that can cost you your life. This makes you a high-risk proposer for the insurance company, which is why you will have to pay a higher premium amount.
6. Smoking
Smoking poses a risk to the lungs and causes severe damage to the body organs. If you are a smoker, you will be considered a high-risk insurance buyer, and hence, they will charge you a higher premium.
7. Occupation
The nature of your work defines the amount of risk you are exposed to. For example, if you work in a coal mine, you will contract breathing or lung diseases. In such a case, the insurance company will ask you to pay a higher premium for the coverage you want.
If you have understood the factors that affect the life insurance premium for health, it is better that you buy a policy soon if you are clear of all the criteria.
Next, let us know the best health insurance plans in India for you. Then, based on the health plan, you can further choose the health plan.
Best Health Insurance Plans in India
However, many insurance companies can offer you competitive health covers. You may evaluate the final purchase based on the services and experience. Here are some best health insurance plans you can consider:
1. Aditya Birla Assure-Diamond with Super NCB:
Some of the features of the Aditya Birla Assure-Diamond with Super NCB plan are:
- You can reload the sum insured up to 150%.
- The cover sum insured allowed is a minimum of Rs.2 lakhs up to a maximum of Rs.2 crore.
- A total of 7100+ network hospitals are enlisted under the insurance company.
- Covid-19 treatment is covered under the policy.
- The minimum entry age under the policy is five years.
2. Bajaj Allianz Health Guard:
Bajaj Allianz is a two-decade-old company in the market that has served its customers to suit all their health care needs. The policy takes care of all the medical expenses incurred during the hospitalization.
- The minimum entry age for the plan is 18 years and has a maximum age limit of 65 years.
- A minimum sum insured of Rs.1.5 lakhs to Rs.50 lakhs can be chosen from the policy.
- The insurance company connects you to 4500+ network hospitals.
- Covid-19 is covered under the policy.
3. Digit Health Plus Insurance:
With the changing time and the altering needs, Digit Insurance brought a dynamic cover for the individuals. In addition, the policy has a fantastic feature of refilling the sum insured if you exhaust it.
- The insurance company connects you to 6400+ network hospitals in India for cashless or reimbursement treatment at hospitals.
- Covid-19 is covered under the policy, and its claim can be filed online.
- The minimum age of insurance allowed is one year which goes up to 60 years.
- The minimum sum insured under the Digit Health Plus is two lakhs, up to any sum insured you choose above it.
4. Bharti AXA Smart Super Health Plan
Bharti AXA Smart Super Health Plan is a comprehensive policy taken as either an individual or a floater policy.
- The sum assured under the policy allowed is Rs.5 lakhs up to Rs.1 crore.
- The approach enables the restoration of the sum insured up to 100%.
- The minimum entry age is 91 days, and the maximum permitted period is 65 years.
- A total of 4500+ network hospitals are connected with the insurance company.
5. Care Plus by Care Health Insurance:
Care Health Insurance has offered health insurance products to individuals, corporate, and financial inclusions. The plan Care Plus by the insurance company has no upper age limit. It is an online solution provider similar to Digit Insurance. The company offers its customers a discount of 5% if they buy the policy online. Apart from this, the product comes with these features:
- The minimum age of the individual plan is five years, and in the case of the family floater, the limit is 91 days minimum.
- The minimum sum insured that the company provides is Rs.3 lakhs, and the maximum cover amount is Rs.25 lakhs.
- Care Health Insurance has a total hospital network tie-up of 8350+ hospitals.
- The policy provides coverage for Covid-19 patients’ treatment.
Once you are sure which health plan will suffice your purpose, you can expand the coverage. It is better to extend the cover limits keeping the expenses and high cost of treatment in mind.
This highlights the requirement of a health plan which can run parallel to the health insurance policy. A health plan can be purchased from any life insurance company that provides you with a lump sum amount for care, especially in the case of critical illnesses.
Let us understand this with an example. Ravi had a health insurance policy since he joined the job in 2015. He always preferred to buy an individual policy other than what the company provided. His idea was to get the cumulative bonus and lower premiums as he was young. After five years, in 2020, Ravi got married and thought that responsibilities had increased. Unfortunately, his father passed away the same year due to cancer. The disease runs in the history of the family.
Mentally shaken with the loss of his father and bearing the financial expenses, Ravi thought it was the right time to buy a critical illness cover. He knew the extent of damage that his father’s illness did. After exploring the market, Ravi found that purchasing a critical illness cover with health insurance would make a fantastic combination.
If you are also looking for a similar solution, you must consider buying ABSLI Cancer Shield Plan.
But why?
Cancer is a dreaded disease, rising fast across the globe. The insurance policy could be your safety system when you are diagnosed with the specified types of cancer.
The plan offers you these:
- Financial benefit for multiple stages of cancer types.
- The insurance company Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance provides coverage for significant stages of the disease, unlike other insurance.
- The Company offers higher cover at an affordable premium. For example, Asha Mathani, aged 36 years, can buy a cover of Rs.10 lakhs for a policy term of 20 years, and she will have to pay Rs.306/- per month.
- On diagnosis of the early stage of cancer, you will get 30% of the sum assured.
- On the significant cancer stage diagnosis, you will get 100% of the sum assured.
- Once you are diagnosed with the early stage of cancer, your premium will be waived for a lower of 5 years or the remaining policy term.
- You also get the income benefit option in which you will receive 1% of the sum assured on illness once major-stage cancer is identified.
Conclusion:
Health insurance is an essential ritual that every family should care about. Accidents, diseases, and sudden critical illnesses are inevitable. Though nothing much can be done for the disorders, you can prepare yourself financially. Once you have the financial capacity, you can support your family in emotional distress. Life is a vicious circle, and you cannot always handle what is thrown at you. According to an ICMR India State-Level Disease Burden Study Report, the estimated deaths due to critical illness increased from 37.09% in 1990 to 61.8% in 2016. This number was estimated to be 0.60 million deaths from cancer between 2016 and 2021. If you still comprehend the depth and seriousness of buying health insurance and other critical illness care plans, you must do it now. You must consult a specialist for the best health insurance or visit here for more details.
