With the cost of healthcare rising at a far higher rate than the inflation rate in India, one needs to be assured of the means to cover the cost of any health-related emergency. Health Insurance therefore is important for the middle class population. Health insurance prices, however, always seem to make a big dent in expenditure. It is therefore only practical to look for health insurance plans that give one value for money. While it is almost impossible to find a plan to take care of every contingency, several plans that take care of inpatient hospitalization for a host of illnesses, apart from providing other benefits. What is more, one can purchase add-on plans to cover ailments or conditions that you or the insured are likely to be more at risk of having, along with these basic plans.
Let us look at some of the health insurance plans where premiums begin at below INR 10,000/- while at the same time providing attractive coverage to the insured:
Kotak Health Care
This comes in 3 variants - Excel, Premier and Prime. While the Excel plan offers coverage of INR 2-4 lakhs, the Premier offers coverage of INR 5- 25 Lakhs. Kotak Prime offers coverage of INR 5- lakh-1 crore. The premium (when the age of entry is 18 years) is below INR 5000/- for the Excel version and below INR 7000/- for the Prime version. Cashless treatment can be availed at Kotak’s 4000 plus network hospitals.
Other attractive features include a free health check up, for any insured person above the age of 18, irrespective of whether a claim has been made or not, a cumulative bonus of 5% of the sum insured (SI), up to a maximum of 50% for every claim free year and discounts on purchasing multi-year plans. This is also available as a family floater policy where the age of entry is a minimum of 91 days.
This plan can be taken along with Kotak Secure Shield which provides coverage for 18 critical illnesses.
Aditya Birla’s Activ Assure Diamond Plan
Offering cashless treatment at over 8500 network hospitals and premiums starting at around INR 6,000-, the SI ranges from INR 2 Lakhs to INR 2 Crores. Apart from pre/post and inpatient hospitalisation, the plan offers coverage of domiciliary hospitalization as well as coverage of over 500 daycare procedures. Other features include coverage of expenses related to an organ donor expenses up to 100% of the SI. AYUSH treatment also finds coverage, albeit to a limited extent. One of the best-known features of the plan are Health Returns. If you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you are entitled to as much as 30% discount in the following year’s premium, subject to meeting the conditions stipulated such as thirteen active days per month among others. Health Returns can also be used to purchase medicines or pay for diagnostic tests as well. Perhaps the most appealing factor of this policy is that there is no age limit for entry.
Niva Bupa’s Health Companion
Niva Bupa offers cashless treatment at a 9000-plus hospital network. Premiums begin at just above INR 5000/-. It is available in three variants providing coverage ranging from INR 3 lakh to INR 1 crore- as per the variant purchased. The policy offers cashless treatment at the company’s 9000+network hospitals all over the country, as well as coverage of pre and post-hospitalisation costs. The hospital cash benefit provides cash of INR 1000/- to INR 4000/- for every day of hospitalization. Domiciliary hospitalisation is also covered if the attending practitioner recommends admission into a hospital but beds are unavailable.
Attractive features include the no-claim bonus @ 20% and up to 100%, coverage of daycare treatment/procedures, annual health check-up, and coverage of AYUSH treatment. There is no cap on room rent, except for the suite and above room category. One of the outstanding features is the refill/reload benefit and lifetime renewability.
HDFC ERGO Optima Secure Health Insurance Plan
This plan offers a base SI of INR 10 lakhs along with restoration of sum insured if the SI was fully or partially utilized. Plans begin at little under INR 8000/-. Pre and post-hospitalisation expenses up to 60 days and 180 days respectively as well as inpatient and domiciliary hospitalization expenses are also covered under this policy. AYUSH expenses are covered up to specified sub-limits. Most importantly, the policy also covers home hospitalisation costs subject to the condition that such treatment was pre-authorised by the company and proper patient records are maintained. These are covered on a reimbursement basis. Daily hospital cash benefit is also available if the insured occupies a room on a sharing basis and is hospitalised for more than 2 days. Air Ambulance expenses up to the SI are also covered under this policy.
To conclude, in today’s competitive health insurance market, service providers are providing more benefits to the insured than was previously available when health insurance was not considered a necessity. Thus with a budget of INR 10,0000/- there are several health insurance plans to choose from. Check the fine print, however, understand the exclusions. If you think that your current plan is not giving you value for money, do not hesitate to port or migrate to a new plan. It might also prove cost-effective to buy a base plan along with a top-up plan and/or a critical illness plan.
