How Much Is Health Insurance for A Child Cost?

Cost of Health Insurance for a Child

Note that medical inflation has been on the rise for a long time, and there seems to be no indication of it declining soon. At times such as these, it is wise to be prepared and invest in comprehensive health insurance for your family, including your kids. Coverage for kids is especially important given the rising cases of lifestyle diseases among them. 

As of now, there is no individual health insurance coverage for children. If you wish for your child to have health insurance, you will have to add them to your family floater policy. Based on the sum assured, your kids can undergo quality treatment when the need arises. While purchasing health insurance, you should remember that all the members covered under a family floater plan share the sum insured. Consequently, if one member falls sick, the sum insured reduces by the amount spent on their treatment.   

Therefore, you must get a health insurance policy with a sizeable sum insured keeping in mind the health risks of each member and the potential risk to your children. It is always better to be overinsured than to be underinsured. 

How Much Is Health Insurance For a Child Cost?

When you add a new member to your family floater health plan, the premium charged against it increases. However, the increase in the premium amount is nominal if the child is young and comes without major health conditions. Even with the lower premium charges, the coverage they shall enjoy is comprehensive, including pre-and post-hospitalization, daycare treatments, OPD consultations, cover for advanced procedures, and many other benefits. 

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Despite the benefits available to children under a family floater, there are certain age-related limitations. For instance, most insurers do not offer specialized cover for newborns and limits health insurance coverage for a child to only 25 years of age. 

In terms of how much health insurance costs for a child, it is significantly lower than that of an adult. This is because children belong to the lowest-risk category when it comes to healthcare. In addition to lower premiums, policyholders enjoy extra discounts for adding new members and at a younger age. Moreover, policyholders also enjoy tax benefits on investing in plans such as these. 

It is always advisable to add critical illness riders along with the base plan to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios. In such cases, the premiums increase based on the rider benefit chosen. You should also look for co-payment clauses with your health insurance policy. This ensures that you share the expenses with the insurer, thereby lowering out-of-pocket expenses.

Factors that Impact Health Insurance Premiums

• Income Level - The higher your income, the better access you have to quality treatment. Therefore, you are likely to be charged a higher premium on your health insurance cover for your child and spouse. 

• Age of Members - Note that the addition of an elderly person to the family floater will significantly raise your premiums. This is simply because health risks increase with age. Likewise, adding a child to the policy will incur a lower premium. The policy lapses as soon as the eldest member reaches the maximum age limit of the policy.

• Number of Members - The number of members is directly proportional to the cost of health insurance for your child. However, a lot of insurers offer discounted premiums on adding more members. The maximum number of members that one can add is 6, although it varies across insurance providers. 

• Medical History - This one is a no-brainer. If your family has a history of medical ailments, you can expect to be charged a much higher premium than your counterparts. Always remember, the greater at risk you are, the higher will be the premiums charged. 

How Much Health Insurance Does a Child Need? 

Based on the factors discussed above, the premiums ultimately depend on the sum insured. The higher the sum insured, the greater will the premiums charged. However, increasing premiums should not deter a parent from opting for comprehensive coverage. 

Factor in the rate of inflation at this stage. With the current rate of inflation, a treatment that costs around Rs.4 Lakhs will increase to nearly Rs.16 Lakhs in the next 10 years. Therefore, randomly arriving at a sum is least likely to serve your purpose. For instance, a sum of Rs.5 Lakhs for a family of 4, including 2 kids and 2 adults, will barely meet the medical requirements should an emergency arise. 

Summing Up!

Experts suggest diversifying your insurance portfolio to reap maximum benefits. Given that needs change with time, a sum insured top-up feature can help you offset the risk of inflation as well as reduce coverage in a family floater.