8 Things to Consider Before Buying Health Insurance Plans | GetSetHappy (2024)

When it comes to securing yourself and your family’s health and well-being, buying a reliable health insurance plan is a wise step in the right direction. While there are several companies offering different group and individual plans, choosing the right one for yourself that suits you is a tedious process. Here is a 8 Things to Consider Before Buying a Health Insurance plans.

1.) Compare the Plans and Premiums

Price is an important component of yourselection process. Certain policies may have higher premiums with someadditional benefits such as doctors’ second opinion, vaccination cover,wellness benefits, etc. However experts suggest paying higher premiums forbenefits, you may never use OR for merely availing tax benefits is notsensible.

On the other hand, there are some fixedbenefit health insurance plans thatcome with a lower range of premiums in which buying an insurance plan whichincludes your spouse or children, can get you higher claim amount at a lowerpremium. So, you may consider buying a combined insurance plan instead ofopting for 2 or more separate policies.

2.)Pre/PostHospitalization Expenses

Medical expenses incurred after and/orbefore hospitalization are called Pre/Post hospitalization expenses. During thetreatment, some part of the process extends beyond the hospitalization, such asphysiotherapy at home, Follow-up visits to the doctor, medicines to be taken.Such expenses are considered as Post-hospitalisation expenses. Find out if thechosen Health Insurance plan includes Post-hospitalisation expenses.

Also, check if there are any room rentcaps. A room rent cap is the maximum amount your service provider will pay youfor room rent during hospitalization.

3.) No Claim Bonus

Many health insurance plans include a no-claim bonus. It is the discount offered by the service provider, in case, the policyholder has not filed any claim in a particular year. In such a case, either the sum insured is increases or the premium is decreases or sometimes both.

4.) Exclusion Clauses

Go through the exclusion clause mentionedin the brochure that accompanies the policy. A lot of companies exclude certainailments and expenses from their coverage list. Some of the commonly excludedconditions may be an internal congenital disease, non-allopathic treatment,pregnancy and childbirth-related conditions, and cosmetic, aesthetic andobesity-related treatments. Read the document clearly beforehand.

There may be certain waiting periods,which means some claims are made after a certain waiting period.

5.) The Efficiency of the Claim Settlement Process

Claimsettlement time and claim settlement ratio are a really important factor that must beconsidered. Claim Settlement Ratio tells you what proportion of insuranceclaims are paid out by the company. Higher settlement ratio and lessersettlement time generally mean that the insurance provider is doing a good jobwith genuine claims.

6.) Adequate coverage

Keeping the high cost of qualityhealthcare in mind; Make sure the plan you are buying provides adequatecoverage to you and your family. One should not compromise on the cover just tosave money on premium. Instead of simply going for the inexpensive plan,compare the features. By paying a little extra, you may be able to get greaterbenefits.

7.)HospitalNetwork

While you are comparing lots of keyfactors, do not forget to compare the hospital network of the shortlistedInsurance companies. You must be particular about the areas (include nearbyareas as well) where you or your family can reach fastest. Mostly, the list isprovided in the brochure, but such lists are dynamic and may change anytime.But it still gives you a good idea of the network that the Insurer has in place.Keeping at least 4-5 hospitals in nearby areas could be helpful.

8.) Finally, go through Policy Wordings

Once you have shortlisted a few health insurance plans, Ask your Insurance agent to provide you with the policy wordings of the policy you have selected. Go through the Customer Information Sheet yourself. This is a one-pager that condenses all the key conditions you must be aware of. It is mandatory for health insurance Company to file this document with the Government (IRDA).

This document is also available on thewebsite of the insurance company. You can simply search by typing “health insurance plans name + brochure”on Google.

If there are still any doubts left, askas many questions you want, until you are satisfied.

Bottomline

So, these are the 8 Things to Consider Before Buying Health Insurance Plans. Buying a reliable policy can certainly lower down your Health Insurance cost to a great extent.

While choosing health insurance plans, you should ideally start by comparing plans from reputed insurance companies. Have a close look at the inclusions and exclusions in the most basic plan being offered by them. In fact, every company offers multiple plans with different premiums and services offered. Compare the different plans by the same company and opt for the one which meets your needs.

Last but not least, do not buy a plansolely on the basis of a premium only; instead go for the simple plans withleast conditions and restrictions. Afterall, it’s about your health and peace of mind for your family at the time ofneed.