Value-added Benefits for your Health Insurance – Are They Good for You?

Health insurance companies have come with different plans and programs to enhance the base coverage. Value added benefits offered by companies completely depend on their policies and terms. These are more like reward points that you can earn if you follow certain things stated by the insurer. Check whether these benefits are good for you or not.

Wellness Programs

Wellness programs are nothing but a plan that gives you some reward points on being healthy. The reason behind introducing such plan is lowering the cost of the companies for a long time. Since the claims made by you will be less, they can cut down their service charges. This program generally tells you to stay healthy as much as possible. Now consider the benefits of such program. Some companies provide 100 reward points for quitting smoking, and you can avail up to 5000 reward points for performing other fitness activities. Reward points are valued 25 paisa for each. You will be given 1,250 rupees if you can earn 5000 rewards points. The points are going to help you in reimbursement of the expenses which are not covered by basic policy benefits, such as medical consultation, dental care and more.

Ayush benefit

Ayush benefit is very popular in India and many companies add this program along with your insurance policy like an inevitable portion. The term denotes a well-being procedure people have been adhering from old age. It stands for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. This plan will be beneficial if your disease comes under the non-payable coverage from the insurer.

Second Opinion

The second opinion as the name says covers the benefits in case you need the second opinion for your treatment and surgery. This will help you to make sure what you need to treat your ailment in the best way.

Medical Repatriation/evacuation

This value added benefit help you get the best treatment of your illness overseas. It covers medical emergencies that you may face outside your nation. Like other plans, it also has some exclusions which vary from companies to companies.

Sum Insured Restoration

It is planned to restore the base sum of your health plan if you cross the extreme limit of the benefit. Industry data reveals that the insurance amount for a year is not reached by policyholders in most cases. This is why you can better choose top-up plans instead of the sum insured restoration.

Cumulative Bonus

It is a type of no-claim bonus where you get benefit from the insurer if you spend a no-claim year. The percentage of a cumulative bonus will be reduced in respect of your claim during a policy year. These value-added benefits are designed as per the benefit of companies themselves. Some are indeed needed to enhance the base plan, and some work as an additional coverage with strict terms and conditions.

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Published By

Subhra Bera

www.basic-healthinsurance.com

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Family Floater Health Insurance Plan

Family Floater Health Insurance plan proves to be very beneficial if you want a single health plan for your entire family. Under such plan, the ‘sum assured’ has been divided into the members of a family; thus, multiple claims can be attainable to get hospital expenses from the company you are insuring under. A single premium is paid by the policy holder every year to take the benefits of this health insurance plan.

Generally, insurance companies limit the number of family member and give health coverage to the primary insured persons including proposer’s spouse and children. Many companies even extend the coverage areas and include siblings, parents and other relatives as per their terms and conditions.In case the ‘sum assured’ is reached in a treatment of a member in a given policy year, you will get an option to restore the health plan by paying an additional amount. The companies primarily limit the costs of hospitalization to the ‘sum assured’, and exceeding of which may end the benefits of the health policy for that particular year only.

You will also get no-claim bonus on the premium, and it can vary from companies to companies. If you do not make any claim within a given policy year, your premium amount will be reduced for the next year. The amount of reduction, though, entirely depends on the regulations of the companies.

The benefits of Family Floater Health Insurance Plans:

Cost-effective policy

Under this policy, your entire family gets the benefits of health insurance coverage. You can also apply for multiple claims in case such situation occurs. A single premium has to be paid by the policyholder and it is cheaper than the cost of individual health insurance plan.

Tax Benefits

One can get tax deduction up to 15,000 rupees on health insurance of self, spouse and children as stated under section of 80D of the Income Tax Act. If senior citizens come under your family floater policy, then you can also get additional 20,000 rupees deduction. So, the complete deduction is not avoidable as you can save up to 35,000 rupees.

Restoration benefits of Sum Assured

Unlike other health plans, the family floater insurance gives you an additional advantage by automatic restoration of sum assured in case you reach the amount in a given year. It definitely reduces your tension to pay the cost of hospitalization in case another worse situation comes in the same year.

Cashless treatment

A Family under such policy can enjoy having cashless treatments as per their choice of medical preferences. This allows a policyholder to avoid expensive medical bills because the ‘’sum assured’ will cover everything to the extreme limit.

Fields not covered by Family Floater Health Insurance Policy

• Pre-existing diseases do not come under such heal plan benefits.
• Senior citizens above 60 years age face tough to get into the benefits of the health plan as the risk of getting sick is higher for them.
• Childbirths may not come under Family Floater Health Plan. However, many companies start giving this benefit.
• Treatments for HIV/AIDS and many congenital treatments are excluded from their coverage.
• 

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Published By

Subhra Bera

www.basic-healthinsurance.com

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Critical Illness

With an increasing rate of lifestyle diseases, we tend to bend, unknowingly, to some life-risk health problems. Maintaining a healthy diet protects you from those fatal diseases to some extent, but taking precaution is always a necessary factor that ensures a tension free future.

What is a Critical Illness Plan?

Unlike mediclaim, CI is such a health insurance where you can get a lump-sum amount on the causing of serious health issues like cancer and strokes.

This health insurance takes care of you and your economic pressure very well when you are in indeed need for money for curing such complex ailments. Under this plan, you can get to the highest limit of the sum insured to the cost of the treatment and recovery expenses. It extends to the payment of debt, if any. In a cleared term, CI plan is relied on pre-defined illness and offers a fixed amount on the occurrence of the severe health complication. CI health insurance plan generally works as an additional policy with your existing one.

The coverage of Critical Illness plan

The numbers of diseases covered by such health insurance plan depend completely on companies’ terms and conditions. Basically, 8 to 20 critical diseases come under the benefits of this health insurance. But as the name says, it is only applicable to severe health problems and life-risk diseases such as cancer, kidney failure, strokes, heart valve replacement and so on.

Waiting period

The waiting period is an additional factor of critical illness health plan, which does not exist in other general health policies. The term of such CI insurance is that the insured person must survive 30 days after the diagnosis to claim the amount. Though, companies would not give critical illness health benefits plan within the 90 days after the start of the policy.

Exclusions in CI plan

It is always mandatory to check exclusions of plans to get a comprehensive detail about the policy. CI plan does not include fields like:

• Critical illness due to smoking, alcohol and drug intake.
• Health complication due to internal and external congenital disorders.
• HIV/AIDS
• Illness due to war, terrorism, navy or military operation
• Critical condition during childbirth and pregnancy
• Dental care or cosmetic surgery
• Hormone replacement treatment
• Reproduction aid treatment

Inclusions in CI plans:

• Cancer of Specified Severity
• First heart attack of specified severity
• Open chest CABG
• Open heart replacement
• Coma
• Kidney failure needing regular dialysis
• Major organ/bone marrow transplant
• Permanent paralysis of limbs
• Aplastic anemia
• Bacterial meningitis
• Loss of speech
• End stage liver disease
• Deafness
• End-stage lung disease
• Fulminant viral hepatitis
• Major burns
Besides the above-mentioned list, there are many diseases that are included in the coverage of CI plan.

Places to buy Health Insurance Plan

Terms and conditions differ according to the company. This is why choosing the right place is always an important factor. For life insurance companies, CI plan works as a separate insurance policy or a rider to the base plain. The two major circumstances associated with the policies are – your base plan ends when the rider is used, and the base plan continues after the use of the rider. If a company provides separate CI plan, then it requires you to undergo a detailed study about the plan and its terms and conditions. Separate plans are more complex in rules and have an array of terms attached with them.




Source

www.economictimes.indiatimes.com










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Published By
Subhra Bera
www.basic-healthinsurance.com
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