Having comprehensive health insurance plan is certainly a good idea, but what if you have two or more insurance plans? Does that let you double the benefits? Many health insurance companies offer “illness specific health care policy” and buying one along with a general health policy can get you better coverage against medical emergencies and rising healthcare costs.

Rapidly rising medical cost in India, in addition to limited coverage offered by a single health insurance plan, has made it necessary for more and more consumers to buy multiple medical policies. Investing in multiple health insurance plans not only provide comprehensive coverage to an individual, but also extend backup protection in situation of medical emergencies, losing a job, or interim period between switching job from one company to another. In addition to this, multiple health insurance covers also help in mitigating the risk for people suffering from specific ailments, such as, coronary disease or diabetes.

There are several benefits of having multiple health insurance plans as discussed herewith:

Hedge against Rejection of Claims

In situations where claims get rejected by health insurance companies, it can be a disaster for the family, paying for huge medical expenses from the pocket. Here, multiple polices have tremendous benefits. If health insurance claim is rejected by one insurer, it can be accepted by another, and thus, the entire claim money is not lost. Thus, having multiple health insurance polices act as a hedge against claim rejections.

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Smaller Covers

Instead of investing in one plan with big coverage, you can buy multiple health policies. This will eventually add up to a big cover, and you are likely to pay lower premium amounts as compared to buying a single plan with bigger health coverage. Smaller covers from multiple health plans add up to a bigger coverage and also turn out to be less costly.

Diversify across Insurers

Individuals can buy multiple health insurance plans from different service providers. This is a great way to diversify across insurers and benefit from their coverage policies. Moreover, claims are settled as per contribution clause, when the claim is higher than sum insured for one policy. If the sum insured is greater than the claim amount, the individual can file claim with either of the health insurance companies. For pre-existing illness, both the insurance service providers will make payments as per their norms.

Personal Health Policy and Critical Illness Plan

Fixed benefit plans, or critical illness plans, provides protective cover in addition to regular personal health insurance policy. Generally, high expense diseases or critical illnesses are not covered in general health care plan. An individual can, thus, benefit from buying critical illness plan in addition to personal health policy and maximize coverage by minimizing risk.

Lower Premiums

When an individual buys multiple health plans with smaller covers, it tends to lower premium amounts considerably as compared to investing in a single policy with bigger coverage. Simultaneously, smaller covers from multiple plans also add up to bigger coverage, as mentioned above, without digging a hole into your pocket.

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