When you are looking to ensure your family’s wellbeing as well as the financial stability, purchasing a health insurance is your best bet. However, when selecting individual health insurance plans, you have to consider many factors. You need to make sure it is best suited for your needs. Now, choosing the best mediclaim policy is a tedious process. Sometimes, there may be hidden clauses or unfamiliar terms and conditions that you may not understand, or you may just ignore thinking that they are irrelevant.
With our ever-changing lifestyle, we need health insurance now more than ever. Moreover, if you are not careful, medical bills may cost you an entire life’s saving. To avoid this, a health insurance policy is recommended.
While choosing a health insurance plan, you should not just consider the premium that you have to pay but also you have to keep in mind the ease of policy purchase and renewal, what all is covered, if hospitals around you are in the list, add-on covers if you can go cashless, etc.
Here are a few factors to keep in mind while buying the best mediclaim policy:
Effective claim process:
Claim settlement time and its proportion ought to be a standout amongst the most vital factors that one should consider. Higher settlement proportion and quicker the settlement time implies that the insurance provider is doing a great job with authentic cases.
Group of hospitals:
While taking a health insurance policy, an important factor to keep in mind, is the group of hospitals associated with the insurer. Not all hospitals may be included in the insurer’s list, so be sure to go through the list carefully. Along with hospitals list another very important thing to keep in mind is the cashless option. A cashless option means the hospital will directly settle your medical bill with the insurance company, so you need not shell out a single penny.
Maternity benefits:
Nowadays, maternity costs are skyrocketing. There are so many tests, an expected mother has to go through during her pregnancy. Therefore, it is very important to choose such a policy that will cover the cost of tests, gynaecologist visits and ultrasounds.
Cumulative bonus benefits:
Health insurance companies usually have the facility wherein the sum insured increases by a precise percentage after every year in which the policyholder does not file a claim. Generally, this increase in Sum insured is normally limited to 100% of the basic sum insured and is spread across a specific number of years.. The increase of sum insured can vary from 5% to 50% of the basic sum insured annually. In case the customer has received a claim in a particular policy year, then the accumulated bonus will reduce by a specified amount; while there will be no effect on the basic sum insured.
Read more: Five Points To Consider Before Buying A Health Insurance Policy
In any case, the sum insured at any time cannot be less than the basic sum insured.. One must always check for this feature when they choose the best mediclaim policy and go through the terms and conditions carefully.
Other benefits:
Some other benefits you should consider before buying a policy are: free health check-ups, paediatric coverage, day care benefits for OPD patients, pre- and post-hospitalization cover, etc.