The Dos and Don’ts of Buying a Health Insurance Plan in India

Health problems and medical issues tend to fall upon you and your family unannounced. Given the rising medical costs, it will inevitably lead to an emotional, physical and financial drain. While you cannot stop the crisis; you can spare yourself unnecessary stress and trauma by protecting yourself with a Health Insurance Plan. It provides a financial shield that can prevent breaking your bank.

Hence, it is important to make buying a health policy a priority. While shopping for one, you must be aware of a few dos and don’ts. Check them out!

Do’s of Buying a Health Policy

It’s not only your financial investment but also the well-being of your family that depends on the health policy that you choose. Thus, it’s wise to keep the following Dos in mind.

• Understand your needs– A health policy is never one-size-fits-all. Hence, you must ponder and specifically list down your needs based on age, health status, medical history, coverage required, etc. It would help you shop right.
• Market research- There are a plethora of health policies available with different types of coverage and benefits. You must always do research to understand and list out a few that would offer you maximum benefits in the most cost-effective pricing.
• Compare and contrast– You must always compare and contrast various health policies to understand the benefits and drawbacks of each. It would help you choose the one that is most advantageous for you in terms of both benefits and costs.
• Check inclusions and exclusions– It is a significant factor to look into while buying a health policy. You must understand what benefit is offered and what is deprived of you. This way, you can understand if you need to buy certain extra benefits and riders or select another plan.
• Read terms and conditions- Most forget to read the fine print of any health policy. It often leads to a claim rejection. Hence, you must go through it before signing up for the policy to avoid unpleasant surprises.
• Check for network hospitals- Checking on the empaneled hospitals list would help you pinpoint a few hospitals in your vicinity. This would help you avail of cashless medical benefits. You would not get this facility in a non-network hospital.
• Understand the waiting period clause – It applies to pre-existing diseases and must be considered in your specific text. You would thus know when you would get coverage for the treatment of pre-existing disease and hence, would make your life more comfortable.

Don’ts of Buying a Health Policy

Now, we walk you through a few don’t that you must strictly adhere to when buying a health plan. Read on!

• Never buy a policy without understanding it completely- It is always safe to understand a health policy to the core before committing to it. You must never hesitate to ask and get all your doubts cleared. Proper understanding is the exclusive way to avoid any nasty surprises in the future.
• Never hide or disclose false information- You must never fill in any false information or hide any kind of health-related information while filling the health insurance form. Any error or false information will always cost you dear and can easily lead to claim rejection. In worst scenarios; it can even lead to the cancellation of your policy.
• Don’t be afraid of rejection- There could be several reasons why your health policy application was rejected by an insurance company. It could be as simple as few typing errors that can portray as filling in of false information. Hence, if your application is rejected; you must not be dejected. Instead, find out the reason for rejection and see if it can be rectified. If yes, you can simply reapply with rectification and get your health policy approved.
• Never underestimate the excess- Often people do not consider the total cost of the health policy. They merely look at the payable premium amount. But factors like deductible, co-pay, etc. have a significant financial impact on you whenever a medical crisis occurs. Thus, it important that you dig into it and understand the whole picture before purchasing the health policy.
• Never overlook the additional covers- No health policy is complete in itself. You inevitably need to buy a few extra covers like coverage of critical illness, accidental death benefit, top-up cover, etc. It comes to you at a slightly higher premium cost but offers you crucial benefits. Hence, you must never overlook them.

Wrapping-up

The medical costs in India are rising at an exponential rate. Additionally, a medical crisis can knock your door unexpectedly. Given that, you must always be wise and choose a health policy that serves you well in the future and keeps you protected and secure. The above do’s and don’ts would go a long way in helping you achieve your objectives of purchasing a health insurance plan.

Clare Louise