Should You Buy a Super Top-up Health Insurance Policy?

What are Super Top-up Plans?

Super top-up plans are those health plans that cover your medical expenses after the coverage limit of your base policy gets exhausted. Such plans come with a deductible or threshold limit just like a top-up plan but come with additional advantages. A super top-up policy gets activated only after the deductible is paid either through a base policy or from your own pockets.

Let’s understand better with the help of an example. Suppose you have a top-up policy of Rs 25 lakh with a deductible of Rs 5 lakh. If you raise a claim of Rs 4 lakh, the policy will not get activated. However, if you raise a claim of more than Rs 5 lakh or a second claim of Rs 3 lakh, it will cross the threshold limit of Rs 5 lakh. In this case, the super top-up policy will get activated and your claim will be paid.

Are Super Top-up and Top-up Health Insurance Plans Same?

Although super top-up plans are similar to top-up plans, they are not exactly the same.

One of the major differences between both types of plans is that super top-up plans allow you to raise multiple claims in a policy year. However, a top-up plan will cover your medical expenses only once in a policy year after you pay the deductible amount.

Besides, you can club multiple hospitalization bills in a year to cross your threshold limit under a super top-up plan. In fact, if you buy a policy of 3-year tenure, you can consider hospitalization bills for all three years to cross your deductible limit. But in the case of a top-up plan, you should cross your deductible limit in a single hospitalization bill.

Do You Need a Super Top-up Health Insurance Policy?

A super top-up health insurance policy was originally considered suitable for senior citizens. But over the last few years, it has proved beneficial for people of all ages. Here are a few reasons why you must buy a super top-up policy:

• Helps to Enhance Medical Cover

  A super top-up policy helps you to enhance your health insurance cover in case the existing sum insured is insufficient to cover your medical expenses. It acts like a backup policy that comes to your rescue when you run out of your base health insurance policy to pay your hospital bills.

• Low Premiums

  Unlike regular health plans, a super top-up plan offers a higher sum insured of up to Rs 1 crore for a low premium price. This is because the high deductible amount makes way for fewer claims, thereby, reducing the insurer’s liability. The higher is the deductible, the lower is the premium.

• Fight Medical Inflation

  Super top-up plans are a great way to fight the surging medical inflation and stay prepared for enormous hospitalization bills that may come your way.

When to Not Buy a Super Top-up Health Policy?

Sometimes, buying a super top-up health policy is not a wise decision. Check out the situations when you should avoid buying a super top-up policy:

• If Your Base Plan Has a High Sum Insured with Restoration Benefit

  If your base health insurance policy comes with a high sum insured and a 100% restoration benefit, then buying a super top-up policy makes no sense. The restoration benefit will easily offer you the required coverage for an affordable price.

  But if you have a base policy with a small sum insured or if the restoration benefit does not work for the same illness, then you can opt for a super top-up policy.

• If Your Employer’s Cover is Your Base Policy

  In case you have a base health policy from your employer, then buying a super top-up policy independently is not a good idea. Your employer policy is valid only till the time you work in that organisation. When you switch your job, your employer policy will cease to exist and you will no longer have a base policy to pay the deductible of your super top-up policy.

  Instead, you must buy a base policy and super top-up policy independently even if your employer offers you both.

Limitations of a Super Top-up Health Insurance Policy

Although a super top-up policy is a great buy, it comes with certain limitations. Take a look at the limitations that you must know if you plan to buy a super top-up health insurance policy:

Cashless Claim Unavailable with Different Insurers

If your base health policy and the super top-up policy are from different insurance companies, the cashless claim facility may not be available. In the case of two insurers, hospitals consider coverage through base policy as one claim and super top-up policy coverage as the second claim. As a result, they do not offer the cashless claim facility for the second claim and you will only be left with the reimbursement claim option.

Therefore, make sure to buy the super top-up policy from the same insurer from whom you have purchased the base policy.

Very Few Features Available

Most health insurance companies offer very few benefits under a super top-up plan. They may not offer benefits like OPD cover and may come with sub-limits and a longer pre-existing disease waiting period.

Therefore, make sure to buy a super top-up plan that has features and benefits similar to your base health policy.

Negligible Benefits with a Small Base Cover

Usually, health insurance policy benefits like the cumulative bonus, discounts on renewal, etc. are available on the base plan and not on the super top-up plan. As a result, opting for a base health policy with a small sum insured provides negligible accrued benefits under a super top-up plan. Thus, it is important to opt for a decently-sized base cover to avail the benefits of a super top-up plan.

Conclusion

Buying a super top-up policy is a great way of enjoying higher coverage for a lower cost. However, it is not suitable for all and also comes with certain limitations. Therefore, it is advisable to assess your base policy and accordingly, make an informed decision of buying a super top-up health policy.