Last Updated on May 19, 2024 at 8:57 am
In this article, SEBI registered fee-only advisor Ajay Pruthi explains how to choose a health insurance policy.
About the author: Ajay Pruthi is a fee-only SEBI registered investment advisor. He can be contacted via his website plnr.in. Ajay is part of the freefincal list of fee-only advisors and fee-only India.
Do you think there’s no need for personal health insurance as you’re covered under corporate health insurance cover? I don’t know how many of these people have personal health insurance coverage. However, the situation of becoming jobless will be really scary if a recession kicks in. Once your job is gone, so would your corporate health insurance cover.
I’ve always advised people to take personal health insurance coverage beyond their employer’s corporate coverage. But everyone takes it so lightly. Most of the time, people argue that they’ll purchase it later as they’re currently covered under corporate health insurance cover.
Join 32,000+ readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email! (Link takes you to our email sign-up form)
🔥Enjoy massive discounts on our robo-advisory tool & courses! 🔥
Now I ask you a question – What if you lose your job and a medical emergency strikes before you get a new job? What if your new employer doesn’t have a mediclaim scheme when you switch jobs? Or what if there is a medical emergency while switching jobs, and you have a break in between?
Most people say that they’ll purchase personal health insurance coverage only if they lose/switch their jobs. Why should I spend extra money every year if I can get the cover anytime I want?
The answer raises a more pertinent question: What if the insurance company denies the coverage later if you’re not in good health?
The basic assumption to purchase it at a later stage is that people think that they’ll always stay healthy. Can you guarantee that you’ll stay healthy for the next 5/10/15 years? With the current scenario of chronic stress in the job and personal life, it’s difficult to guarantee. And I’ve seen many cases where the insurance companies deny health insurance policies even for health issues like thyroid.
What if I say you can get 50-100 Lakhs health insurance coverage for your entire family? And that too with an annual premium of Rs. 20,000 – Rs. 25,000 if you’re below age 45.
We’ll come to the cost at a later stage. But first, let’s see which option you should choose for health insurance coverage.
Types Of Health Insurance Cover
There are two types of health insurance coverage.
- Individual Health Insurance – It covers the hospitalization expenses for an individual up to the sum assured limit.
- Family Floater Health Insurance covers expenses for the entire family up to the sum assured limit.
Let me explain it with the help of an example.
Individual Health Insurance – If you’ve two family members, you can get an individual cover of Rs 2 lakhs each. In this case, each of you is covered for two lakhs. If two members face a need for hospitalization, each of you can get expenses recovered up to Rs 2 lakhs. Hence, these two policies are independent.
Family Floater Health Insurance – In this case, if there’re four family members, you can take a Family floater policy of Rs 5 lakhs. Now, anyone can claim up to 5 lakhs for expenses. But then the cover will go down by that much amount for that particular year. So if one of the family members is hospitalized and the expenses are 3 lakhs, it’ll be paid. And then the cover will be reduced to 2 lakhs for that particular year. Next year again, it will start fresh from 5 lakhs.
Which One To Choose – Individual Or Family Floater
The concept of choosing the type of health insurance policy is very straightforward and simple.
- Choose Individual Health Insurance if you’re young and single. Don’t include your parents in the policy, buy a separate one for yourself.
- Purchase an individual health insurance policy for your parents.
- If you’re suffering from any disease like diabetes, BP etc., purchase an individual policy for self. And buy a separate policy for your family.
- Purchase family floater health insurance if you’re married, have kids and most importantly, you’re healthy.
- If any family member is suffering from any disease, buy a separate individual health cover for them. Purchase a family floater for the rest of the family.
Health Insurance – How Much Should I Insure For?
Though, there is no standard answer for this. One must look at his lifestyle, health, age, life stage, family history of illnesses and affordability to decide the amount. But with the current inflation in the healthcare sector, you should’ve a health insurance cover of at least 50-100 Lakhs.
Also, note that many health insurance policies “provide additional covers” such as daily allowance, ambulance charges, etc., for hospitalization. Not only are such “covers” superfluous, but they also tend to drive the premiums higher. It’s better to avoid such plans and stick to something basic and simple, if you want the maximum value for money.
How Much Would Be The Premium?
The premium for a 50-100 Lakhs cover wouldn’t be more than Rs. 20000-Rs. 25000 for a family floater health insurance policy. (If you purchase a combination of base policy and super top-up policy.) Click on the link given below to read more about super top-up policies.
A base cover of 10 Lakhs and a super top-up cover of 40-90 Lakhs is ideally suggested.
Which Is The Best Company To Purchase Health Insurance Policy?
I don’t have a definite answer for this. You’ll have to research on your own to select the best company as per your needs. Though there’re a few points you must consider before zeroing down on a health insurance policy.
- Don’t purchase a health insurance policy which has room rent sub-limits.
- Don`t purchase a health insurance policy which has co-payment.
- Don`t choose deductibles in base policy.
- Check the network of hospitals for a particular health insurance company.
- Waiting period for pre-existing diseases if any.
- The company providing base health cover plus super top-up cover.
I’d suggest the following companies, taking into consideration the criteria mentioned above.
- Niva Bupa
- Base Policy – Reassure 2.0
- Super Top-Up Policy – Health Recharge
- ICICI Lombard
- Base Policy – Health AdvantEdge
- Super Top-Up Policy – Health Booster
- HDFC Ergo
- Base Policy – my: Optima Secure
- Super Top-Up Policy – my: health Medisure Super Top-up
- Care
- Base Policy – Care Supreme
- Super Top-Up Policy – Enhance
So, stay safe and purchase a personal health insurance cover now
*Disclaimer- Nothing contained in the article is a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by me. If you have any doubts as to the merits of the article, you should seek advice from an independent financial advisor. Registration granted by SEBI, membership of BASL, and certification from NISM in no way guarantee the performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors. Investment in the securities market is subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.
🔥Enjoy massive discounts on our courses, robo-advisory tool and exclusive investor circle! 🔥& join our community of 7000+ users!
Use our Robo-advisory Tool for a start-to-finish financial plan! ⇐ More than 2,500 investors and advisors use this!
Track your mutual funds and stock investments with this Google Sheet!
We also publish monthly equity mutual funds, debt and hybrid mutual funds, index funds and ETF screeners and momentum, low-volatility stock screeners.
- Do you have a comment about the above article? Reach out to us on Twitter: @freefincal or @pattufreefincal
- Have a question? Subscribe to our newsletter using the form below.
- Hit 'reply' to any email from us! We do not offer personalized investment advice. We can write a detailed article without mentioning your name if you have a generic question.
Join 32,000+ readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email! (Link takes you to our email sign-up form)
About The Author
Dr M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter(X), Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.Our flagship course! Learn to manage your portfolio like a pro to achieve your goals regardless of market conditions! ⇐ More than 3,000 investors and advisors are part of our exclusive community! Get clarity on how to plan for your goals and achieve the necessary corpus no matter the market condition is!! Watch the first lecture for free! One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos! Reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt while investing! Learn how to plan for your goals before and after retirement with confidence.
Our new course! Increase your income by getting people to pay for your skills! ⇐ More than 700 salaried employees, entrepreneurs and financial advisors are part of our exclusive community! Learn how to get people to pay for your skills! Whether you are a professional or small business owner who wants more clients via online visibility or a salaried person wanting a side income or passive income, we will show you how to achieve this by showcasing your skills and building a community that trusts and pays you! (watch 1st lecture for free). One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos!
Our new book for kids: “Chinchu Gets a Superpower!” is now available!
Must-read book even for adults! This is something that every parent should teach their kids right from their young age. The importance of money management and decision making based on their wants and needs. Very nicely written in simple terms. - Arun.Buy the book: Chinchu gets a superpower for your child!
How to profit from content writing: Our new ebook is for those interested in getting side income via content writing. It is available at a 50% discount for Rs. 500 only!
Do you want to check if the market is overvalued or undervalued? Use our market valuation tool (it will work with any index!), or get the Tactical Buy/Sell timing tool!
We publish monthly mutual fund screeners and momentum, low-volatility stock screeners.
About freefincal & its content policy. Freefincal is a News Media Organization dedicated to providing original analysis, reports, reviews and insights on mutual funds, stocks, investing, retirement and personal finance developments. We do so without conflict of interest and bias. Follow us on Google News. Freefincal serves more than three million readers a year (5 million page views) with articles based only on factual information and detailed analysis by its authors. All statements made will be verified with credible and knowledgeable sources before publication. Freefincal does not publish paid articles, promotions, PR, satire or opinions without data. All opinions will be inferences backed by verifiable, reproducible evidence/data. Contact information: letters {at} freefincal {dot} com (sponsored posts or paid collaborations will not be entertained)
Connect with us on social media
- Twitter @freefincal
- Subscribe to our YouTube Videos
- Posts feed via Feedburner.
Our publications
You Can Be Rich Too with Goal-Based Investing
Published by CNBC TV18, this book is meant to help you ask the right questions and seek the correct answers, and since it comes with nine online calculators, you can also create custom solutions for your lifestyle! Get it now.Gamechanger: Forget Startups, Join Corporate & Still Live the Rich Life You Want
This book is meant for young earners to get their basics right from day one! It will also help you travel to exotic places at a low cost! Get it or gift it to a young earner.Your Ultimate Guide to Travel
This is an in-depth dive into vacation planning, finding cheap flights, budget accommodation, what to do when travelling, and how travelling slowly is better financially and psychologically, with links to the web pages and hand-holding at every step. Get the pdf for Rs 300 (instant download)