A family health plan is a type of health insurance, which covers more than one member of a family for a fixed sum assured in exchange for a single annual premium. Such a policy provides assured coverage to two or more members of a family at the same time, in case they get hospitalized or an ailment is diagnosed. A family health plan is recommended to a family with a good medical history.
A family health plan generally covers a family (you and your spouse along with up to 4 children) while some insurance companies allow you to include your parents in your existing health insurance policy. You might also be allowed to include your in-laws (extended family members) in your existing family floater health insurance policy at a cost of additional premium. Protect your complete family. Compare and find the best family health plan at Policybazaar.
Family Health Plan Covers Upto 15 Relationships: Protect your complete family. Compare and find the best family health plan at PolicyBazaar.
The customer has the option to get a full family medical insurance coverage that includes self, spouse, children and parents. A family floater is the best family health plan when it comes to safeguarding the health of your loved ones. Since it is a single policy for the entire family it relieves you from the task of buying and maintaining several health insurance policies for each family member. Usually, family floater health plan offer coverage to individual, spouse and kids. However, there are some insurance companies that offer family health plan to cover siblings, parents and in-laws also. Family Floater health plan is best choice when you want to cover Parent’s health insurance, spouse and kids insurance in one family health plan.
The concept of family health plan is gaining immense popularity among individuals. In addition, with over 30 general insurance companies offering health insurance plans in India, choosing a best family health plan is no more a daunting task.
Easy access to internet is not only adding to one’s comfort of buying family floater health plans, but it is also adding more responsibility on individuals to learn all intricacies of the health insurance plans before making a final decision.
A family health plan offers coverage to all family members subject to the policy terms. Based on the types of health coverage offered, a health insurance plan can be broadly classified into two categories mentioned below:
Medical Insurance: A medical insurance policy typically reimburses the hospitalization cost subject to healthcare treatment. The insurance company bears the expense in the form of cashless treatment or reimbursement.
Critical Illness Insurance: This type of policy covers a policyholder against chronic diseases like heart attack, stroke, kidney failure etc. Subject to policy coverage, the insurance company pays the entire sum assured to the policyholder in the form of a lump-sum. However, critical illness insurance cannot be purchased as a single policy for the entire family.
Learn More About Best Family Health Plan
| Insurance Company | Family Health Plan | Age | Sum Assured | Pre & Post Hospitalization | Pre-existing Diseases |
| Bajaj Allianz Health Insurance | Family Floater Health Guard | 18 to 65 years; 3 Months to 25 years as dependent children | Minimum=2 Lakh; Maximum=10 Lakh (entr age<=55 years); 5 Lakh (entry age>55 years) |
Pre-hospitalization: 60 days; Post hospitalization: 90 days | After a waiting period of 48 months |
| Star Health Insurance | Family Health Optima Insurance Plan | 18 to 65 years; lifelong renewability after 65 years of age; dependent child from the 16th day | Minimum=1 Lakh; Maximum=15 Lakh | Pre-hospitalization: 30 days; Post hospitalization: 90 days (7% of total expense max up to Rs. 5, 000) | After a waiting period of 48 months |
| National Insurance Company | National Insurance Mediclaim Policy | 18 to 60 years; 3 Months to 25 years as dependent children; renewability up to 65 years of age | Minimum=50, 000 Lakh; Maximum=5 Lakh |
Pre-hospitalization: 30 days; Post hospitalization: 60 days | After a waiting period of 48 months |
| New India Assurance | Family Floater Mediclaim Policy | 18 to 60 years; 3 Months to 18 years as dependent children; lifelong renewability | Minimum=2 Lakh; Maximum=5 Lakh |
Pre-hospitalization: 30 days; Post hospitalization: 60 days | After a waiting period of 48 months |
| United India Health Insurance | Family Medicare Policy | 18 to 80 years; 3 Months to 18 years as dependent children; lifelong renewability | Minimum=1 Lakh; Maximum=10 Lakh | Pre-hospitalization: 30 days; Post hospitalization: 60 days subject to max up to 10 percet of sum assured | After a waiting period of 48 months of continuous renewal with the company |
| Oriental Insurance Company | Happy Familt Floater Policy | 18 to 65 years; lifelong renewability after 65 years of age | Minimum=1 Lakh; Maximum=10 Lakh |
Pre-hospitalization: 30 days; Post hospitalization: 60 days | After a waiting period of 48 months of continuous renewal with the company |
| SBI General Insurance | Smart Health Insurance | 18 to 65 years; 3 Months to 22 years as dependent children | Minimum=1 Lakh; Maximum=5 Lakh |
Pre-hospitalization: 30 days; Post hospitalization: 60 days | After a waiting period of 24 months |
Here are a few important points that you must consider before buying a health insurance plan for your family. Go through below points to resolve any confusion you might have regarding a family health plan.
While making a comparison of different family health insurance plans, it is important to make a list of basic health coverage offered under the policy. Almost all health plans offer daycare expenses, in-hospitalization expenses, ambulance charges, etc. If you are planning for a child, you should go for the family health plan that covers insurance for new born baby or simply add the baby as beneficiary to your existing family floater health plan. Also the policy comparison should be done keeping in mind your coverage for pre existing diseases, lifestyle and exclusions during the first 30 days of the policy.
Many health insurance companies offer policy renewal till 60-65 years. Nowadays, some health insurance companies also offer lifelong renewal facility. Make sure to choose the family floater health plan that would protect you when you need it most.
The living costs never remain same, so is the cost of medical treatment. Most insurers offer the facility to upgrade the sum insured in the coming years. Sometimes, when you renew timely and have No Claim Bonus the insurance provider company will reward you by increasing the amount of sun insured.
Although all health insurance companies follow the same claim process as directed by the insurance regulator, there might be some differences in aspects of each company's functionality. Before buying any health insurance plan for your family, make a point to explicitly understand the company's claim settlement process. Many companies these days offer cashless hospitalization so no hassle about collecting documents and filling them.
Nowadays, almost every health insurance company is offering cashless hospitalization in their network hospitals. This makes the hospitalization process seamless and hassle-free. However, it is imperative to cross check the same to ensure that names of good hospitals are included in the list.
This family health plan is a comprehensive one wherein under one plan you can cover the complete family. This plan is suited for huge families where members vary hugely in age like a child and a grandparent. You can put all the members, irrespective f their age, under one plan umbrella.
Before buying a family floater health insurance plan, you must thoroughly read the policy documents in order to understand the policy exclusions in detail. Also, make sure to understand different clauses mentioned in the insurance policy like pre-existing diseases, cashless hospitalization, and waiting period, as these terms more or less decide whether you're going to get a claim or not subject to hospitalization.
A family health plan covers all members of your family, including you and your spouse along with up to 2 children (can be 4 as well subject to the policy terms). You can choose to include your parents in your existing family health plan subject to an additional premium payment. However, as soon as the oldest person in your family reaches the maximum age to avail the coverage, the policy expires automatically. Also, any pre-existing medical condition is not covered up to a certain period.
Furthermore, a family floater health insurance plan covers dependent children up to a certain age (typically up to 18 years) only. Once a child crosses that age, the policy no longer covers him or her.
It's quite difficult to say which type of health insurance plan is better out of a family health plan and an individual health plan unless we compare the coverage provided by both the plans in different practical scenarios.
A family health plan covers the entire family for a single sum assured and a single premium needs to be paid to the insurance company. In other words, there is only one policy for the entire family, and the premium payment is also a single in a year. On the flip side, an individual health plan covers only one person and therefore, there has to be a separate health plan for each family member. Since there are multiple policies, the premium payable for each policy will also be different.
If we compare the premiums payable for both these types of a health insurance plan, the combined premium payable for multiple individual health plans is significantly higher than that for a family health plan.
A family health plan is more like a group health insurance plan. It allows you to include several members of your family in a single plan for a single sum assured at a single annual premium. If yours is a family of 4 or 6, you can purchase a family health plan and you need not meet specific eligibility criteria.
There are certain key points that you must keep in mind when you're going to buy a family health plan. These points are given below:
In a nutshell, almost any family can choose to buy a family health plan within its budget. Also, the premium is lesser than that of the combined premium payable for an individual health plan.
If you currently have a health insurance plan and you want to include your family members in it, ask your insurer about the same. However, if you're new to insurance and want to buy a family health plan to cover your immediate family, you have various insurers to choose from. For your own convenience, you can go online and compare multiple family health plans to choose the best one within your budget.
It is advisable not to look for the policy with the least premium, as you cannot compromise on the coverage. There is no point in having a health plan with insufficient coverage just because you don't want to pay less, as you might still have to pay for your healthcare expenses from your own pocket. Therefore, make your decision wisely.
There is no dearth of mediclaim policies in India and choosing a one is a difficult task. Save your time and energy by comparing different family health plan at PolicyBazaar as quotes from all leading insurers are available on one single platform. When you buy online you will get transparent dealing, correct recommendations and hassle-free buying. Make an informed choice by comparing the policies side by side!
| Insurer | Family Health Plan Name | Age Limit | Sum Assured/Minimum & Maximum Limit | Conditions for Pre & Post Hospitalisation | Pre-existing Illness |
 Bajaj Allianz |
Family Floater Health Guard |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
 Star Health Insurance |
Family Health Optima Insurance Plan |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
 The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. |
Family Floater Mediclaim Policy |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
 SBI General Insurance |
Smart Health Insurance |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
 Oriental Insurance Company |
Happy Family Floater Policy |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
 National Insurance Company |
National Insurance Mediclaim Policy |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
 United India Health Insurance |
Family Medicare Policy |
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Waiting period of 28 months is applied |
What is a Family Floater Plan?
A family floater covers all the family members under one single plan. The sum insured is fixed and gets exhausted as and when any member avails medical services and makes a claim. The members coverable under a family floater can be the policyholder and his/her parents, spouse and children.
Why Family Floater?
Buying a family floater proves to be cheaper than buying individual policies. Besides, a floater provides for adding the immediate family members such as newborns and newly wed spouse in the cover, without any hassles.
How does Family Floater works?
The sum insured in a family floater plan is fixed for a policy term and gets depleted, as and when any member avails medical services and files a claim. If it gets exhausted on one member during the policy term, any other member would not be able to make a claim till the policy is renewed at the end of the term.
Documents Required (if any)
How can I add my family members to the existing policy?
You can add your family members at the time of renewal of an existing policy. However, you can’t add dependents in a middle of the policy, except newborn baby.
Do I need to take a separate health policy if my family and I are already covered in a corporate health policy?
What is family floater insurance?
Family floater plans provide coverage to the entire family under a single plan. Here the fixed cover is shared by all members of a family. A family floater policy is one of the best options when it comes to protecting the health of your family members. Since it is a policy which covers the entire family, it relieves you from the task of buying separate health policies for each family member and thus, it offers affordability also. Although, family floater plans usually cover the individual, spouse and kids but there are some insurers which are offering a provision to cover dependent parents and in-laws also under family floater.
In case of family floater health insurance, what happens if the primary insured person dies? Can the policy be renewed by any of the surviving members of the policy?
Yes, if the primary insured dies or reaches the maximum age of renewability, the other adult member in the policy can continue with the policy and enjoy the continuity benefit. Any addition or deletion in the policy can happen only at the time of renewal.
During the course of treatment can I change my hospital?
Yes, you are allowed to change the hospital on the grounds of better treatment and services, but you need to first inform your TPA who will evaluate your case on the basis of policy terms & conditions.
What happens if I fall sick overseas?
There are various health insurance companies like Max Bupa, Religare, CIGNA which provide overseas benefits like outpatient treatment, pre-diagnosed planned hospitalization and second medical opinions apart from coverage for sudden sickness during travel. Also, we advise you to opt for a travel insurance plan which provides protection against accidental death, dental expenses, trip cancellation and interruption. It covers hospital bills, emergency evacuation bills along with a long list of other expenditure. Read More
What are the situations under which cashless hospitalization is denied?
You may be denied cashless hospitalization coverage under any of the following conditions-
In such situations, insured should pay all treatment costs and then later claim for reimbursement.
How can I check the status of my claim?
You can call the helpline number of your TPA or you can also check the status on the official website of your insurance company.
Can I take multiple health insurance policies? How will I make a claim in that scenario?
Yes, you can take multiple health policies from the same company or from different insurance companies but it is important to inform about the existing policies to the other insurer while buying a policy or at the time of making a claim. If you fail to disclose it, then it means you are violating one of the important terms and conditions of the health insurance company and in case of investigation this could be counted as misrepresentation.
Let’s understand the claim procedure by taking into account different scenarios.
Scenario 1: When total claim amount is less than the sum assured under a single policy
In case of indemnity policies like mediclaim or hospital reimbursement type insurance, if the insured opts for multiple policies in the same tenure and the claim amount is less than the sum assured, then insured has all rights to choose from which insurer he wants to make a claim. For instance, Mr. Kumar has Rs 4 lakh insurance policy from Insurer X and Rs 2 lakh policy from Insurer Y. The claim amount is Rs 2 lakh. In this case, the insured can choose any insurance company who will be bound to settle the claim as per terms and conditions.
Scenario 2: When claim amount is more than the sum assured under a single policy
In this case, insured has all rights to choose the insurer who will settle claims. However, if at the time of a claim settlement, insured doesn’t disclose about other policies, then the insurer’s liability is restricted up to the sum assured and the policyholder will have to bear remaining expenses.
Scenario 3: Claim under defined benefit policies
If the insured has got defined benefits like critical illness where claim doesn’t have any relation with the treatment cost and the payable amount is fixed, then insured will be entitled to get benefits from all policies.
Here the real mantra is to make a claim under the old policies wherein insurance has past the waiting period for a lot of ailments.