6 Easy Steps to Buy the Best Health Insurance

Choosing the right health insurance policy has never been an easy task. So, we have come up with 6 easy steps to ease your journey:

Step 1: Know Your Needs: Your health condition is different from that of your neighbours. Therefore, the policy you need may not be the same as that of your neighbours. Ascertain your insurance requirement and choose a policy in sync with it. For instance, for a young family, Rs 5 Lakh coverage is sufficient, while a family with senior citizens should opt for a larger floater option. If the parents are too old, it is wise to buy a separate cover and not include them in the floater option.

Step 2: Compare (Options) Premium and Plans: Compare the prices vis-à-vis features and the total coverage provided. Various health insurers have come up with diversified plan variants that offer such services as wellness benefits and vaccination cover. Paying higher premiums for benefits that you may never use is not a judicious decision. Also, it is not advised to buy a high-end cover merely to avail tax benefits.

Step 3: Research Insurer: An insurer with a low claim settlement ratio may spell trouble, so keep an eye on an insurer’s financial and service records. The number of years a company has been in the insurance business is also worth considering. Its expertise is reflected in the types of policies it offers. An insurer with an enriched product portfolio is a good choice.

Step 4: Verify Network Hospitals: Check if your preferred hospital is included in the insurer’s list of network hospitals. This would help you get cashless treatment. Opt for the insurer that has tie-ups with leading hospitals that you would prefer to go to if any medical emergency strikes. It’s even better if these hospitals are closer to your home.

Step 5: Restore: Picture this - You exhaust your plan’s sum insured and pray that the rest of the year passes by smoothly. It doesn’t and you are hospitalized again. Since you have consumed the entire sum insured, the question arises on how you will bear the medical expenses. This is where the ‘restoration’ feature of your policy comes in picture. Under this policy, if a customer exhausts the sum insured during the year, it is automatically restored.

But there are some exceptions. The insurer restores the entire sum insured only if the current treatment is not for the same disease for which the policyholder was hospitalized earlier. Choose the insurer that offers restoration benefit without any restrictions.

Step 6: Other Alternative Treatments:  It is better to opt for insurers that cover other alternative treatments such as Unani, Ayurvedic, and Homeopathic. Currently, the following insurance companies cover alternative treatment under their health insurance plans:

Disclaimer : *Policybazaar does not endorse, rate or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by an insurer.