Crafted primarily to offer financial coverage during medical emergencies that may have resulted from an illness or an accident, a health insurance policy is a crucial element in your financial portfolio. If you have familial responsibility for your spouse, children, parents, or siblings, then a family floater health insurance plan might suit your needs perfectly. Family floater health insurance plans offer a cost-efficient method to provide coverage for your entire family under a single policy, sharing the sum insured among all the family members.
The rising healthcare costs and the unabated increase in medical inflation have made it very clear that buying family health insurance is essential. While the decision to buy family health insurance might be an easy one, picking the right policy might require a tad more effort. Given that you want the best healthcare facilities for yourself and your loved ones, you would want to choose a policy that offers a myriad of dependable features and top-notch benefits. But with the insurance market brimming with health plans, choosing the best family floater health insurance plans in India might seem overwhelming.
Well, fret not! We’ve got you covered.
Tips to Buy Family Floater Health Insurance
Before you commit to a health plan, here are some basic tricks of the trade that you need to be aware of. Keeping these things in mind would help you make the right decision.
Analyse Your Family’s Insurance Needs
The first thing you need to do is analyse your family’s health insurance needs. Senior citizens may have different healthcare needs compared to younger individuals.
Pro Tip: If there are elderly parents in your family, a separate policy can cater specifically to their health concerns, ensuring adequate coverage for age-related ailments and medical requirements.
Understand the Coverage, limits, sub-limits
Checking the coverage holds utmost importance. The chosen coverage should cover:
- In-hospital expenses
- Daycare procedures
- Adequate coverage for pre and post-hospitalisation
- Ambulance service
- Special features like health check-ups, cumulative bonuses, automatic restoration, second opinions, domiciliary hospitalisation etc.
Pro Tip: Make sure to read the policy document carefully before investing. Reach out to your insurance provider in case of the slightest doubts. Seek a professional’s assistance in case you need more help.
Consider the Sum Insured
Affordability is one of the biggest benefits of family health insurance plans. However, you need to remember that in a family floater policy, the sum insured amount is shared. It is generally suggested that you choose a sum insured that is at least 50% of your annual income.
Pro Tip: An affordable way of enhancing your sum insured is through top-up plans. Even if the sum insured is used up, the top-up plan helps you pay the extra bills.
Flexibility to Upgrade
Your family floater health insurance plans should allow you the freedom to add new members to your existing policy. For example, if you have recently got married, you may want to add your spouse, or if you have been blessed with a new baby, you can add them to the policy, too.
Pro Tip: Some health plans allow you to add your parents-in-law to the existing policy. Find out if you can do that.
Make Sure to Understand the Waiting Periods
Every health insurance plan comes with a waiting period, which can range from 30 days to 48 months. While accidental injuries are covered from day 1, most health insurance companies accept claims only after 30 days of policy purchase. Illnesses such as hernia, osteoporosis, joint replacements etc. may have a waiting period of 2 to 4 years.
Pro Tip: Prefer a health insurance policy that comes with a low waiting period so that you are soon able to seek coverage for the listed illnesses as well.
Do You want to Co-pay
In certain health insurance plans, the clause of co-payment exists. Co-payment is the share or percentage that you, as a policyholder, have to pay in case a claim is raised. If your hospital bill is INR 2 lakhs, and you have a 10% co-pay plan, you will have to pay INR 20,000 from your pocket while the remaining will be paid by your insurer.
Pro Tip: If cutting back on the premium is a priority for you, then you may opt for a plan where your co-pay share is higher. However, keep in mind that higher co-pay will increase your out-of-pocket expenses if a claim is raised.
Check for Network Hospitals within Your Vicinity
While it is important that your health insurance company has a wide network of hospitals, it is crucial to check that you have a network hospital in your vicinity. When you have a hospital near you, seeking treatment, especially in case of an emergency, becomes easy and convenient.
Pro Tip: Most health insurance companies keep updating their hospital network. Make sure to keep checking the company website for an updated list of hospitals in your vicinity.
Know what Factors Affect Your Premium
When it comes to safeguarding your family’s health, there is no denying that you may want the best. While buying a family health insurance plan that offers comprehensive coverage is highly recommended, it is also essential that you choose an affordable policy. Having an idea of what factors affect the premium amount will help you reach a well-informed decision and choose the best family floater health insurance plans in India. Your age, the size of your family, the sum insured you choose, the co-payment, your medical health, etc., are some factors that can significantly affect your health insurance premiums.
Pro Tip: Make use of the health insurance calculator to get a fair idea of the premium that you would have to pay in exchange for the coverage.
It’s Your Turn Now
You need to keep in mind that every policy offers a set of coverage benefits, and there will be certain differences in all of them. You need to carefully browse through them and choose the one that best suits your needs, as well as your budget. Make sure that you go through the policy document and understand the inclusions and exclusions of the policy so that there is no misunderstanding between you and your insurer. Care Health Insurance offers some of the best family floater health insurance plans in India you can consider for your family. However, it is always recommend to compare, analyse and buy the plan that best suits your requirement.
>> Also Read: Benefits of Buying a Family Floater Health Insurance
Disclaimers:
The above information is for reference purposes only: Policy Assurance and Claims at the underwriter's discretion.
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