Compare Health Insurance Plans Before Choosing The Best One For You

With the cost of even basic medical procedures rising exponentially, a health insurance policy is an essential support for any unforeseen events. Whether it is a minor illness, an accident, or a major surgery, you get the best coverage when you carefully comparehealth insurance plans and choose the best one that suits your needs. Quotes of health insurance plans provided by various insurance companies should also be compared before finally settling on the best one for your specific situation and requirements. In this article, we bring a lot of information about health insurance and the important factors to be kept in mind before you choose one.

What is health insurance?

By choosing to pay a certain premium on a regular basis, a health insurance plan protects you from heavy medical or surgical bills by paying a major part of it. There are different ways in which a health insurance pays the bills for any medical or surgical procedures or hospitalizations. The insurance company could pay the amount directly to the healthcare provider (in cashless settlement) or the insured could pay first out of his pocket and get reimbursed later from the insurance company.

How to get the best health insurance quote?

With the help of the internet, it is now easy to get quotes of health insurance from the major companies in the industry by comparing their features and products on webaggregators websites like InsuringIndia.com.

What are the factors to be considered when buying health insurance?

The first thing to know about is the two types of policies that are available, which are benefit and indemnity. Indemnity plans help people to plan their health care and visit any doctor or hospital that they may like. A set portion of the hospital expenses are then paid by the insurance company. This is the reason, these plans are also referred to as fee for service plans.

When comparing policies, it is a good idea to choose an indemnity plan that covers maximum hospitalization expenses, including the cost of room and doctor’s consultation fees. Then you could go for plans that cover critical illnesses. There are also plans offered by various companies that are specific to certain diseases, such as diabetes. These plans have a higher premium than basic plans.

With rising medical costs, it may not be possible for everyone to pay higher premiums for higher coverage. Top up plans are economical as as they have deductible condition attached, which reduces the premium cost.

There are also different plans that suit different family configurations. For example, a nuclear family would benefit from a family floater plan where the entire family is covered by one Sum Assured applicable for all the members. For people who are already covered by their employers, it would be better to opt for a top-up plan that has a deductible or a basic policy. 

Another add-on to look out for in health insurance plans is if they offer a free health check up after completing a set number of years with the company. It varies from company to company and starts from 1^st year policy itself to after a waiting period of 2-4 years, depending on certain conditions set out since the inception of the policy.

Additional covers can also be taken for maternity expenses, which usually start only three or four years after the insurance is taken.