Types of Health Insurance Policies Available In India

We are living in a world where medical expenses are increasing with every passing year, and newer, diseases are being discovered at a rapid pace. As such, investing in a good health insurance has become inevitable. Insurance providers offer various types of health insurance policies which you can select as per your needs and budget. The idea is to choose a policy which provides maximum coverage and a higher sum insured. Here are three of the most common types of health policies available in India.

1. Individual Health Insurance

As is apparent from the term ‘individual’, this type of health insurance policy is issued to an individual. It is designed to cover a single person against illnesses and the resulting medical expenses. Individual policies cover you against hospitalisation and surgical expenses until you exhaust the maximum cover limit, i.e. the sum assured by the insurer. To ensure continued coverage, you need to invest and renew your individual health insurance policy every year. Insurance companies charge annual premiums to provide uninterrupted coverage. The premium amount is directly indicative of the kind of coverage you can get. As such, a policy with high sum assured provides higher coverage, whereas a basic plan may come with lower sum assured.

2. Family Floater Plan

This type of health insurance policy is ideal for those who want to buy medical insurance for themselves and their families. Under the Family Floater Plan, you have one insurance policy, and a specific sum assured that covers everyone in your family. For instance, a family of four comprising of parents and their two children are all covered under one policy with a collective sum assured (for example, ₹500,000). Any family member covered under the policy and in need of hospitalisation or surgery can claim coverage under this type of health insurance policy. Furthermore, under this policy, more than one family member may avail treatment at the same time. Like any other policy, you need to renew this policy annually to be eligible for uninterrupted coverage. This health policy is indeed a popular choice for families as the plan is rather affordable when compared to investing in individual policies for every family member.

3. Critical Illness Health Insurance policies

Serious ailments like cancers, tumours, and heart diseases, which were once considered rare, have become extremely common today. As such, individuals with a family history of such serious diseases can benefit from investing in critical illness health insurance policies. Since critical illnesses often last for a longer tenure, such policies typically come with very high sum assured, enabling the policyholder to seek continuous treatment. Also, critical illness plans may only be encashed to seek treatment against diseases covered under the plan. Typically, your critical illness policy covers you against ailments such as cancers, cardiac diseases, liver and kidney diseases, major organ transplant, dialysis, stroke, paralysis, bypass, multiple sclerosis, and other such severe conditions.

Apart from the above-mentioned standard health policies; there are a few others that you can invest in. These include:

• Group Health Insurance Plans:

  Employers typically offer these to their employees. These policies cover employees and their immediate family members but come with a low sum assured.

• Hospital Daily Cash Plans:

  Under this policy, the insurer provides a daily cash allowance to the insured. A limit is set on the daily cash allowance, over and above the hospitalisation expenses. Such a policy comes in handy when one needs long-term hospitalisation.

• Senior Citizen Insurance Plans:

  These health insurance policies are for people over 60 years of age. Since older people are more susceptible to illnesses, senior citizen plans can ensure they receive adequate medical coverage, enabling them to seek the necessary treatment.

Health insurance covers you against a majority of your medical expenses. You can encash your policy to seek treatment for a wide range of illnesses and diseases. Receiving a diagnosis for any illness can indeed be challenging. At such a time, you can reach out to us at Pinc Insurance. At Pinc Insurance, we endeavour to provide you with end-to-end solutions for your insurance requirements – whether it is investing in insurance as per your needs and budget or filing a claim.