As we know, the hospitals are now offering better facilities, and the cost incurred when we opt for better facilities is very high, and you should be ready to deal with this situation if you or your family member is hospitalized. Health insurance acts as a “financial tool” to protect you against the risk of incurring the high cost of medical expenses.
The different types of health insurance are:
1. Individual health insurance:
It is the simplest of all the other types of health insurance and one of the best available options. This plan ensures that it will cover individual medical expenses within the cover limit. Like other insurance plans, you need to pay a regular premium amount to buy the cover. If you need a large cover, then the premium you pay will be high.
2. Family Floaters Plan:
In Family Floaters Plan, you buy health insurance for your whole family i.e., a single cover for a family. So, anybody in your family can claim the hospital expenses. When compared to other plans, the family floaters plan is cheaper.
3. Unit-linked health insurance plan:
It is a mixture of investment and insurance. The premium amount you pay is divided into two parts, where a part of your premium is invested, and remaining is used to buy a cover. Thus, this plan offers both return and safety. Returns earned are utilized to pay for medical expenses, over and above the insurance limit. Remember, the investment and returns you receive are subjected to market risk. The returns earned will be paid back to you on the date of maturity/ on the completion of policy duration.
4. Group insurance plan:
These are the plans which are offered by an employer to his employee in a large/small enterprise. This plan covers both pre and post-hospital expenses for a specific period. A group insurance plan also covers a family member of the employees and also offers maternity benefits.
5. Definite- benefit plan:
In this plan, an individual will be compensated a lump sum amount on the detection of illness.
- Critical illness plan: On the detection of illness, a predetermined amount is paid towards the treatment irrespective of pre and post-hospital expenses. The significant diseases covered under this plan are organ transplant, cancer, stroke, kidney failure, paralysis, first heart attack, and multiple sclerosis.
- Hospital daily cash: As a part of insurance, the individual is paid with daily cash up to a specific limit for hospital expenses, and an individual can avail of these benefits only if the reason for hospitalization is not falling under any exclusion.
6. Maternity Insurance plan:
This is an additional benefit/ add-on to your primary health insurance plan. It covers expenses related to baby delivery (cesarean/ normal delivery). Thus, maternity is an additional rider with a sub-limit of not exceeding more than Rs 50,000.
Hence, these are the various types of health insurance that are available in the market. Always try to have an individual or family floater plan. The amount incurred as hospital expenses will either be paid directly to the hospital or reimbursed after a claim.
Remember, the plan you choose should match your needs and should fulfill the primary purpose of buying.
“You can’t enjoy Wealth if you are not in good Health.”
