For those who still think they can do without health insurance, let us set the record straight. The need to get health insurance is more than ever before. Health care cost is rising. It is actually rising by a whopping 19% every year, which, by the way, is more than 3 times the inflation rate in our country. Understand it like this: Cost of cardiac treatment shot up by 2 lakh from 2007 to 2011 (about 137% rise) and further inflated by more than 60% in the last 3 years. Even if you can afford the occasional health expenses now, you have to just wait a few years to realize that you can’t. But what you can always afford is health insurance.
Listing the many benefits of getting a health insurance plan is a beaten path and you should read more about it in our previous articles. The matter here is how to choose one health insurance policy out of so many choices available. Not all that easy a thing, but we proudly say we make it easy. Here you go.
Think and rethink your priorities
The first thing to do before you take an insurance plan is figure out your needs and priorities. This will require on your part to consider the benefits you expect from the policy. You will have to think in terms of your age, area of residence, family size, illness history etc. In terms of policy structure, you should assess which limits are acceptable and which are not. You may have an issue with an associated co-pay, some may not have. You don’t want a policy with room rent limit, others may be willing to adjust on that. All this can be easily done if you have the policy features neatly listed out for you.
Mind Your Budget
Once you know the kind of policy you have to buy, decide a budget. This essentially means knowing how much money you can fork out. Of course, this decision is central to the amount of cover you want to opt for. With regards to pricing, a family floater plan costs much less than individual plans.
Read more about family floater plan and individual policy
More than the premium to be paid now, you should think of what the cost of hospitalization in a good city hospital will be. Bear in mind that it can go as high as several lakh rupees. A higher cover amount will increase your premium by a few thousand rupees but will save you from bankruptcy in case you are hospitalized for anything serious.
How to get the Perfect Match
After zeroing in on the budget, you will certainly find a policy that fits the bill. Except that, you will find a number of policies that come close to your expectations. This may make it difficult to arrive at a decision but it’s always nice to have options. Here you will use your customer discretion to sift out the good from the better. The insurers’ claim settlement ratio, rate of claim settlement, pricing of the product and network of hospitals and other data will help you eliminate the unwanted. As part of our motto to empower customers, this data is provided on the site. You just go through the motions and the perfect policy picks itself for you. No kidding!
Know the policy
You must enquire about the details of the product you plan to buy, as much as you can. Knowing the fine print is crucial to your understanding of the policy limits and advantages. It is always good to be sure than be under some impression. And why not? When your policy details are so simply and clearly explained, there is no reason to stay unaware.Visit our health insurance page to compare and buy policies
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Read also An anatomy of an health insurance plan
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