Majority of people afraid that their health insurance coverage won’t be sufficient to take care of medical emergencies because of increasing cost of treatment. Such expenses may drain out their hard earned savings in case they meet with some serious illnesses.
Many new medical procedures have been adopted in the treatment of severe illnesses and critical surgeries come at additional expenses. A change in standard of living is also motivating people to avail treatment in super-luxury hospitals. Such factors and inflation in health care cost are encouraging individuals to opt for the improved sum assured.
Customers with adverse family history should select a higher sum assured only in case they afford expensive premium amounts. People who are financially stable go for advanced treatments and hence, can select large sum assured.
In fact, many people are opting for medical treatments outside India and some mediclaim policies serve to that need as well. It offers cover for hospitalization abroad for critical illnesses such as benign brain tumor, heart valve replacement, heart bypass surgery, bone marrow transplant, and cancer.
According to certified financial experts, those who can afford the expensive premium should opt for the maximum health coverage. But, affordability could still be a problem for many policyholders. Health cover premium is based on the product and the number of family members covered by the policy.
The renewal premiums will increase after 1 to 2 years due to inflation in healthcare costs. Such plans do not have a claim-based loading at renewal. People who do not afford high health insurance coverage should add a top-up plan to their existing mediclaim policies. Buying expensive healthcare plan online doesn’t mean it will reimburse all medical expenses.
Remember to pay attention to factors like network hospitals, policy sub-limits, waiting period for pre-existing diseases, extra benefits such as neonatal cover, maternity cover, dental treatment and exclusions. Under such plans, the insured person can opt for a private room in an expensive hospital.
