Well, you may say that buying health insurance in India is still in a nascent stage, which indeed is true. With the growing technology and adoption of innovative methods in hospitals, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that healthcare in India doesn’t come cheap. If a 2011 survey by a primer insurance consultancy firm, Towers Watson India, is to be believed, 13.25 per cent is the rate at which healthcare cost in India has risen. Interestingly, the same report outlines that four years down the line, inflation is still high in healthcare in India. The same facts holds the truth even now.
One important observation this fact reinstates is the importance of buying a health insurance policy from the available plans in the medical insurance segment. With the health insurance buyer spoilt for choice, thanks to numerous players in the market, choosing a suitable health plan is not an easy feat. So, to make things easy to ward off this state of utter chaos, there are a few vital facts one can keep in mind while choosing a health plan.
The first thing that you must focus your attention to is to check if there is any sub-limit available on your sum insured. Notable, there are various health covers that have sub-limits on factors like room-rent, ICU charges, operating/surgery charges, and last but not the least medical procedures. So, policies with no option for sub-limits may weigh to be expensive as they are likely to entail higher premium but in the end they are a much better deal as compared with the policies that have options for choosing sub-limits. In other to claim the coverage amount, policyholders are expected to be hospitalized for at least 24 hours. On the other hand, there are numerous health plans that do not cover day-care procedures. The innovation in technology has ensured that there are certain surgeries/procedures that require no hospitalization. Thus, it makes sense to look for a health plan that covers maximum number of day-care procedures.
Next in the line is the network hospitals included in the particular health plan. Before buying a policy, one should make sure that the hospitals closet to their vicinity is the part of list shared by the insurance provider. In case it is not in the list, in such a scenario, you may have to visit the hospital in another location to avail the cashless hospitalization facility. At the same time, it is better to opt for the health insurance provider who has tie-ups with reputed hospitals in your city.
The facility of co-payment mandates that the insurer will bear the pre-defined percentage of claim amount while the insurance company will settle the rest of the amount. In this case, the policyholder may find that while the insurance plan is relatively cheaper but it offers no complete coverage. At the same time, every health insurance plan is guided by its own set of exclusions or the factors not included or covered by the health insurance plan. Policyholders are often advised to understand the clause of exclusions in the health plan.
So, to conclude we can say that buying health insurance must be your most informed decisions even if you are buying a health plan for your family member. At the same time, the buyer must understand that in order to get the best possible coverage, one must opt for the plan after considering plans from different insurance providers.
