A health insurance policy is a crucial financial safety net to protect your money from any unanticipated medical expenses. Also, due to the high cost of healthcare, you cannot argue against the reality that having the best possible health insurance is essential in the modern world. The ideal health insurance plan will pay for all costs, which can be too large to fit your budget comfortably. Consequently, having a comprehensive insurance policy is always a good idea, especially given the rising expense of medical care.
The premium, however, is a matter that many people are worried about because you face paying a more significant premium if you extend your coverage. There are several ways to increase your coverage while keeping your premium reasonable, though.
A plan with limited coverage is equivalent to no coverage since, in the event of an emergency, the plan with limited coverage would be insufficient and would wipe out your savings. Insurance firms have introduced top-up and super top-up health insurance plans to complement their best health insurance plans, which strive to raise the coverage amount while reducing the premium incidence, as the feasibility of the higher premium is a substantial obstacle to a larger coverage.
Ways to Shrink Your Premium While Getting Higher Health Insurance Coverage
Add Up to Your Existing Sum Insured
The top-up and super top-up plans enhance your health insurance coverage, but they differ in several important ways. Every claim is treated as an independent incident under a top-up plan, and the cost of each isolated claim is deducted from the available deductible limit. Any claim that exceeds the cap/deductible results in the plan being activated. A super top-up plan, on the other side, compares the cumulative expenses of all claims made over the course of a policy period. A trigger for the plan occurs when the total number of claims exceeds the threshold amount.
Nearly all health insurance companies will give you a choice to raise your current policy's sum insured when you renew it. This way, you can ensure you have enough coverage for your and your family's medical requirements without paying too much out-of-pocket. It will slightly increase your premium, though. However, one benefit of doing this is that there won't be a waiting period for the higher sum insured ( which you will have to do on buying a new policy).
In general, it is advised that an individual have minimum insurance coverage of INR 5 lakh, while a family with one child should aim for minimum coverage of INR 20 lakh.
Give a Thought to a Top-up or Super Top-up Plan
Another approach to secure more comprehensive coverage without paying a high cost is through top-up or super top-up plans. These plans will still offer coverage even if you use your initial sum insured amount. This is accomplished by dividing your coverage into two parts: a secondary cover and the predetermined limit of the original health plan. You will be able to submit a bigger claim if you have this extra coverage.
Choosing a Long-term Health Insurance
In general, choosing a long-term health insurance policy is preferable to one with an annual term, such as one with a tenure of two to three years. This is due to the lower premium costs associated with such long-term insurance.
Multiple insurers offer these long-term policies, so it's crucial to examine the ones they provide and select the one that suits your needs.
Choose a Rider
Your current health insurance policy can be supplemented with extra coverage through additional covers, often known as riders. Maternity insurance, room rent exclusion, critical illness insurance, and personal accident insurance are common riders.
We know that these riders can only be bought by adding in the premium amount, but we also must know that the IRDAI has ordered that the total premium for all riders purchased under the same health policy cannot surpass 30% of the original premium amount. The excess premium you will have to pay for riders cannot, therefore, be more than INR 1,500 if the premium is INR 5,000 per year.
So, if you already need specific riders, like maternity or critical illness insurance, you can pay a small premium to add a few more.
Lesser the Age, Smaller the Premium
Purchasing a health insurance plan while you're still young is another approach to guarantee that your premium payments stay low. However, age and medical history are taken into account when determining the health insurance premium. Since the likelihood of developing age-related disorders like diabetes and heart ailments rises with age, insurers will charge older clients higher premiums.
However, purchasing coverage in advance will guarantee that your rates stay reduced, and you will also be eligible for cumulative bonuses for years without a claim.
A Cumulative Bonus is a Real Bonus
Your insurer will provide you with a cumulative bonus if you don't file any health insurance claims over a policy year (also called a no-claim bonus). As a result, you will receive an increase in your sum insured for the exact cost. As a result, you can receive additional coverage for the same price.
Conclusion
Despite already having health insurance, you may feel it does not fully cover all potential medical occurrences. Therefore, you can use these techniques to receive this coverage without paying a larger premium. If you're thinking about upgrading your health coverage to get greater protection against unforeseen medical situations, you'll ultimately have to pay a larger premium.
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