Skip to main content

Premium is not the only criteria of health Insurance

 

It's important to check if your policy has a higher sum insured

Insurance companies revise the premium rates of their products depending on their loss ratios and rising medical costs. Therefore, besides the premium amount, one should look at the following key factors in deciding the right cover.

Is higher sum insured available?

A person may be in his 30s and may find a Rs 2,00,000 cover adequate, but as age progresses and with medical costs rising, he may require a much higher sum insured after a few years which may not be available in the policy. If he switches to another insurer, he may lose out all the portability benefits and pre-existing diseases coverage. Do check if the policy has a higher sum insured.

How much of the sum insured can be enhanced?


Choose a cover that permits you to enhance your sum insured. Policies offered by some private insurers allow a person to increase his sum insured from 10 per cent to 50 per cent of his current sum insured. Choose a cover that allows you to enhance your sum insured to the maximum.


Limits and sub-limits: With rising losses in health insur ance, a few insurance companies have introduced copayment for claims made by insured over 60 years. Copayment in insurance parlance is making the policyholder pay a portion of the claim amount. Does your policy have co-payment in the higher age bracket? Also avoid a cover that has sublimits on doctor's fees and procedures.

A person buying a health insurance cover should consider the number of day care procedures, critical illnesses that will be covered in the policy besides the limits on daily expenses. Time excesses for different diseases: Insurance companies do not cover certain diseases such as heart ailments, cataract, hernia, fistula, piles, fibroids in the initial years of the policy. Also, certain diseases are completely excluded from the policy. A person should check the waiting period of the diseases that are hereditary or he may be susceptible to.

Renewability: Ensure that the cover has high renewability. Most public sector insurers allow policyholders to renew their cover till 70-75 years. Also, some standalone health insurers have introduced products that offer lifetime renewability.

Age for undergoing medical tests: Most insurers do not ask a prospective policyholder to undergo medical tests if he is below 45 years of age.
The higher the exemption age, the better it is.
 

Popular posts from this blog

Rs 14,000 Crore worth of tax free bonds coming soon from NHAI , PFC

  NHAI, PFC file prospectuses, coupon rate not yet decided MORE debt investment options have opened up for investors with AAA rated tax-free bonds worth over Rs 14,000 crore lined up. The National Highway Authority of India ( NHAI ) and Power Finance Corporation ( PFC ) are offering Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 4,033.13 crore worth of tax-free bonds, respectively, as per prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Of a Rs 5,000 crore issue by PFC, Rs 966.87 crore has already been raised through private placement on September 28 and November 1. Tax-free bonds give investors tax-free return on any amount invested. In another kind of bonds, the long-term infrastructure bonds, investments up to Rs 20,000 are tax exempt, that is this cap amount can be deducted from the taxable income. Accordingly, the NHAI prospectus has clarified that only the amount of interest from -and not the actual investment on -its new bonds will be tax-free. "NHAI's publ...
Read more

Change in Fund Manager for some of HSBC Mutual Fund Schemes

Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Mutual Funds Online Download Mutual Fund Application Forms Call 0 94 8300 8300 (India) However, this facility is only available to Unit holders who have been assigned a folio number by the AMC.   HSBC Mutual Fund has announced that the below mentioned schemes shall be managed by the new fund managers as stated in the table. The effective date will be July 02, 2012.   Amaresh Mishra 's will be Vice President and Assistant Fund Manager. Having done a Post graduate diploma in Business Management and Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, he has over seven years of experience in Equities and Sales.   Mr. Piyush Harlalka's designation shall be Vice President- Fixed Income. Qualified as a C.A., C.S. and holding M.B.A.( Finance degree), he has over six years of experience in Fund management and ...
Read more

How EEE and EET Tax affect Retirement Investments

  An important factor while choosing a financial product is its taxation , and for retirement savings, this is even more important as the sums involved are usually life-long savings. Here's a look at the current tax treatment of three major long-term retirement planning products, which are - Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and National Pension System (NPS). EPF The tax treatment is EEE, which means your money is exempt from taxes at the time of investment, accumulation and withdrawal. At the time of investment, the tax deduction is under the limit of section 80C of the Income-tax Act , which is currently Rs 1.5 lakh. Partial withdrawals are also tax-free if made after 5 years of continuous service. If withdrawals are made before 5 years of service, 10% tax will be deducted at source. Exceptions have also been provided for transfer of amount and conditions wherein the subscriber is unemployed for more than 2 months or the loss of job was beyond th...
Read more

Personal Finance: You can insure your wedding

But luck may not always be on your side. With the frequency of such attacks, as also other risks and unforeseen accidents growing, a wedding insurance is something you may want to look at if a marriage is being planned in the family. Event insurance plans like this is still in its nascent stages due to low awareness. And given the sacred nature of the ritual, nobody wants to discuss or think negative. But as wedding spends and risks grow, it makes sense to cover the potential monetary loss. The policy in those countries even covers the loss of the wedding ring, the wedding gown not reaching on time and even the expenses/loss due to late or non-appearance of the photographer which may mean staging the event once again for the photograph. In India, most insurance companies — including ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Oriental Insurance, Bajaj Allianz and National Insurance — offer wedding insurance. The policy is tailor made to individual requirements and needs. The sum insur...
Read more

DSP BlackRock MidCap Fund

Best SIP Funds Online   HOW HAS DSP BlackRock Small & Mid Cap Fund PERFORMED? With a 10-year return of 14.61%, the fund has outperformed both the category average (12.34%) and the benchmark (10%) by a good margin. Should you invest in DSP BlackRock Small & Mid Cap Fund? This fund invests predominantly in mid-cap stocks but takes a sizeable exposure in small-caps as well. The focus is on nascent companies with high growth potential. The fund manager places emphasis on quality and avoids inferior businesses even if these look tempting from a valuation perspective. Over the past year, the fund portfolio has grown, having added to some of the underperforming sectors like chemicals and healthcare. Its portfolio churn has come down significantly. The heavily diversified portfolio is run completely agnostic of its benchmark index— most bets are from outside the index—which can at times lead to bouts of underperformance as seen in the recent years....
Read more
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Invest in Tax Saving Mutual Funds Download Any Applications
Transact Mutual Funds Online Invest Online
Buy Gold Mutual Funds Invest Now