HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR HEALTH INSURANCE

Husband is not happy. He hates his new job as my proof reader. He is too busy and I am too pushy. So, if you are interested in this job (unpaid, of course…I am still not earning a penny from this blog) than please contact me (Daughter wants this job badly but she is too critical of my writing skills!!!).

Stock Market is not taking Russia- Ukraine conflict kindly. So, if you are invested in the market (FYI – Volatility is expected to continue for some time) and its performance is affecting your health than this post is for you. (Check your health insurance if you already have one with the below mentioned points or if you don’t have one yet…what are you doing? Buy one immediately after reading this post!)

Buying a health insurance is a tricky business (So many clauses and pages that too in small fonts, who reads them?).

Here are the points (I love making bullet point notes if you don’t already know that) to consider while buying a health insurance.

• Claim settlement time and claim settlement ratio: Starting with the hard jargon…Claim settlement time means how fast the insurer settles claim and claim settlement ratio means how many claims are settled (in percentage) from total claims made during a particular period. Look for the policy which has a low claim settlement time and a very high (preferably > 90%) claim settlement ratio.
• Co-payment:Co-payment means policyholder will bear a pre-defined percentage of the claim amount and the rest will be settled by the insurance company. (Yes, exactly like going Dutch except here it’s not about a meal expense but your health expense) Do not choose the policies with co-payment clause.

• Waiting Period: It means waiting period for pre-existing illnesses and illnesses that occurs after buying the policy. Who likes waiting, right? (Don’t smirk Husband, I am worth waiting for 😊) The policy with lesser waiting period is better (Usual waiting period for existing illness in health policies are 2 to 3 years).

• Day-care procedures:Check whether one day procedures i.e., procedures undertaken without overnight hospitalization are covered. Choose the policy which covers day procedures (So you don’t have to stay overnight in the hospital just to get insurance money).

• Network hospitals: Go over the list of hospitals in your city which covers cashless transactions (No, no need to go hospital hopping to check that. You can find the list online) and choose the policy which covers major hospitals of your city and some good hospitals in proximity to your residence.
• Pre/Post Hospitalization: This means medical expenses incurred after and/or before hospitalization (They can be of substantial amount too). Check the number of days and amount covered during pre/post hospitalization phase, higher is better.

• Lifetime Renewability: Some policies are not renewable beyond certain age. Policy should be lifetime renewable as the requirement of the same would be more in older age.
• Cap on room rate: Cap on room rent means there is limit on rent paid by insurance company for the hospital room. If room with a higher tariff is selected then the amount needs to be paid by you. (Insurance companies wants us to share expenses everywhere. Why are we buying policies then?)  Select the policy with no room rentcap or with cap according to your standard.
• Disease wise Capping: Disease wise capping means limit on payment (yet again!) some specified illnesses. Ask for the list before buying the policy. Compare it with your pre-existing illnesses, family history, occupational hazards etc and accordingly make decision.
• Exclusions: Exclusions means illnesses not covered under policy. Check the exclusion list before finalizing the policy.

• Family Cover: Rather than buying individual health insurances for each family member, buy a family floater policy (Daughter got worried about her health insurance after reading this post so had to add this point). It will be cheaper.
• Tax Benefit:You can claim deduction from your total income under Section 80D for health insurance premium paid by you for self, spouse, dependent children (Yes Daughter, you are still dependent…Even though you feel otherwise) and parents.

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