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Tips to Buy a Second Health Insurance Plan

By Juhi Walia
03 October 2022, 12:15 PM

Health insurance is an important necessity for any individual. Inadequate coverage of health insurance can put anyone in financial trouble due to a lot of out-of-pocket costs. Hence, it has become imperative to review your health insurance needs from time to time. Your health insurance needs may change depending on various life phases, responsibility, age, number of dependants and lifestyle, etc. At any point in time, if you think of buying a second health insurance plan to enhance your existing health insurance coverage, you need to make a rational decision.

Buying an additional health insurance plan is not a difficult task as you can opt for online health insurance which is simple and convenient to avail coverage quickly. To make a rational health insurance buying decision, first, you need to access your coverage. Do you need an additional health insurance plan or top-up coverage or critical illness insurance? The requirement may depend on your healthcare needs. Buying a second health insurance plan can benefit you in many ways. Let’s take a look at the benefits of buying an additional health insurance plan.

Advantages of Buying an Additional Health Insurance Plan

The following are the benefits of buying an additional health insurance plan:

1. Specific and Wide Coverage

Having additional health insurance coverage from multiple policies can provide specific coverage. For example, if you have a standard health insurance policy and you opt for critical illness insurance, this can provide you with specific coverage along with generic coverage. Also, going for a second health insurance plan to enhance the coverage can widen the coverage. For example, by buying a second health insurance plan, you can avail and cover the areas in which the existing policy lacks. 

2. Ensures Adequate Coverage

Depending on your and your family’s healthcare needs, you can avail yourself of the type of health insurance plans such as top-up plans, critical illness insurance, family floater health insurance plan, etc while buying a second health insurance plan. The right combination of multiple health insurance plans ensures you and your family complete financial protection with adequate coverage based on your healthcare needs. 

3. Continuous Coverage

Having a health insurance policy with an adequate amount of coverage and lifelong renewability ensures you are covered for life. You can enjoy continuous coverage without any financial threat. 

4. Tax Benefit under Section 80D

It is important to know that you get the tax benefit under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the premium paid towards health insurance coverage. You can health insurance claim tax benefits up to INR 1,00,000 for the premiums in health insurance coverage to self, spouse, children, and parents. Buying a second health insurance plan helps you save the tax outgo.

Tips to Buy the Second Health Insurance Plan

Thinking of buying an additional or second health insurance plan? Do you know you can buy health insurance from a different insurer than the existing one? Insurance buying is an important decision that needs to be made with thorough research and careful consideration of various important things. Following are the tips to buy a second health insurance plan:

1. Scope of Coverage

You need to first go through the scope of coverage, terms, and conditions applicable under your existing health insurance plan. When you know the plus and minus of your existing health insurance plan, you can opt for the right type of coverage to make your health insurance portfolio more comprehensive in nature.

2. Renewability

Before you buy a second health insurance plan, it is important to ensure the insurance company offers you lifelong renewability. As you know, getting comprehensive health insurance coverage later in your life can get difficult and costlier. hence, ensure to check whether the policy offers lifelong renewability or not. Specifically, if your existing health insurance plan offers coverage only till a specific age, it is important to go for second health insurance with lifelong renewability. 

3. Coverage Amount

Before you decide on the coverage amount for your second health insurance plan, check on the existing coverage and then assess the need for additional coverage to arrive at the right amount of coverage. The coverage amount and the way it works may depend on the type of health insurance plan you choose to buy. Having inadequate health insurance coverage is as good as having no coverage. 

4. Riders

Riders or the additional benefits offered by the health insurance plans at an additional cost of premium play a crucial role when in need. For example, having critical illness insurance as a rider to your standard health insurance plan can help you get a lump sum payment during an unforeseen situation that calls for hefty treatment costs. Health insurance companies offer various riders to enhance your coverage. It is important to choose wisely based on your healthcare needs.

5. Top-up or Super Top-up Facility

Health insurance needs to keep changing which calls for coverage enhancement. Every time you may not be able to go for an additional health insurance policy. Hence, it is important to opt for a health insurance plan that can provide a top-up or super top-up health insurance facility to enhance the coverage for the base health insurance policy whenever you are in need. 

6. Portability

Health insurance portability is an important factor to consider while buying a health insurance plan. With the changing needs of people, health insurance policy features evolve every year. Health insurance portability allows you to port your policy from one insurance company to another insurance company where you find more value or suitability without losing any of the benefits. 

Amidst the chaos created by the pandemic, rising health concerns, and the sky-rocketing healthcare cost, staying adequately covered is extremely essential. Re-assess your health insurance needs and buy additional health insurance coverage with careful consideration of all the important factors. 

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FAQs

1. What is a top-up health insurance policy?

A top-up health insurance policy is an indemnity health insurance policy that provides additional health coverage over a certain threshold limit even after you exhaust the existing health insurance policy coverage.

2. What is a super top-up health insurance policy?

The super top-up plan covers your medical expenses up to a specified limit once the deductible is paid by you. Unlike a top-up plan that considers the deductible limit for each claim, a super top-up plan considers all claims in a policy year together.

3. What is a critical illness insurance plan?

Critical illness insurance is a benefit-based health insurance plan that provides a lump sum coverage for critical illnesses such as heart attack, cancer, stroke, coronary artery bypass, etc. The lump sum benefit is paid as soon as the listed critical illness is diagnosed and the policy gets terminated after the benefit payout.

4. Why should I enhance my health insurance coverage?

Health insurance needs keep changing with age, phase of life, responsibility, and the number of dependents. Hence, it is important to review and enhance your health insurance coverage as per the changing need and the rising cost of healthcare.

5. What is health insurance portability?

Portability in health insurance refers to a facility to switch from one insurance company to another insurance company without losing the accrued benefits. 

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