After reading the details of our family’s health insurance policy – Why we purchased the United India Super Top Up Policy with 95 lakhs sum insured – a reader wanted to know, “if it makes sense for him to buy a 25 Lakh base health insurance policy?”
We have a Rs. 25 lakh individual cover from United India for myself, my wife and my son. We also have a floater policy for Rs. 95 lakhs from United India. Why did we increase the base policy to Rs. 25 lakhs even though the super top-up has a deductible of only Rs. 5 lakhs?
- To reduce the chance of invoking the top-up policy. Top-up policy claim processing is a pain, even from the same insurer.
- With Rs. 25 lakhs, we can opt for a comfortable single room (better than a standard AC room) per the “1% of Sum Insured” clause (explained below).
In Sep 2021, we reported the New features introduced in the United India Insurance Family Medicare Policy. The most significant change is the In-patient Hospitalisation Expenses Cover for a sum insured of Rs. 5 Lacs and above comes with “1% of Sum Insured or Single Occupancy Standard AirConditioned Room Charges whichever is higher”.
This effectively means no room rent sub-limit for a standard AC room. Also, there is no limit on ICU rent. The maximum sum insured has been revised from Rs. 10 lakhs to Rs. 25 lakhs. These are welcome features in a PSU insurance policy. I believe these changes have removed the biggest criticism of PSU policies.
Warning: The above is not a recommendation of United India health insurance policies. Please select one based on your circumstances.
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Note: An insurer can change policy terms and conditions at any time.
Did we do the right thing in opting for such a large base cover?
I want to think so! There is one catch I did not think about when I was buying. The hike in premium for larger covers when the insurers start bleeding claims is likely to be higher (in addition to the age-based hike). Hopefully, we will be able to afford this.
Should I buy a large base cover? Factoring in the possibility of future hikes, if you can afford to, then yes, it won’t hurt. For most people, a base cover of Rs. 10-15 lakhs would be ideal, along with a Super Top-Up, preferably with a deductible of Rs 5 – 10 lakhs from the same insurer.
If you want to buy base or super top-up health insurance, this may be useful: Select the right health insurance policy with these free resources.