Skip to main content

Reduce Your Health Cover Premium



Buying the highest health cover available or making claims for every medical need are not always the best financial decisions

 

The only way to protect yourself from a financial disaster after a medical emergency is adequate medical insurance. Here are a few tips to cut back on the premium.

1. Buy a health plan from your bank

Public sector banks have co-branded health insurance products with usually public sector general insurers. These are exclusive and cheaper plans for their customers. For instance, while a `5 lakh Parivar mediclaim policy for a family of four from National Insurance, costs `17,972 annually, a similar family-floater Baroda Health Policy, a tie-up with National Insurance, will cost only `7,079 yearly. These plans are ideal for senior citizens, though one major shortcoming is that the maximum age of renewal is usually 80 years. Also, the maximum coverage you can get is `5 lakh. Since these are tie-up products, there is a risk of discontinuation of the plan, in which case you have the option to port the policy .

2. Buy a smaller cover and top it up

Don't buy the highest cover size available. The cheaper solution is to opt for a basic indemnity plan of say around `5 lakh and then add a super top-up health plan to it. So, while a `10 lakh indemnity cover for a 30-year old costs around `9,000 to `12,000 annually, a combination of a `5 lakh indemnity cover plus a `5 lakh super top-up costs just `6,500-7,000. Note that the deductible amount should never be higher than sum insured and you buy a `super' top-up not a regular one.

3. Separate cover for older members

Adding your parents to your family floater is a bad idea. Consider this: A `5 lakh family floater from Max Bupa which covers a nuclear family costs around `13,000. If you add your senior-citizen parents to this, the cost shoots up to `46,000. A difference of `33,000.A separate cover for parents costs `30,000. Not only there is a difference of `3,000 in the premium, a separate one for parents means the total cover size also increases to `10 lakh.

4. Cash for smaller needs

Comprehensive health plans will cover you head-to-toe but the costs are also exponentially high. For instance, a `5 lakh premium health plan with OPD benefits and other exclusive benefits will cost around `20,000, while a standard plan is available for `5,000.Plus you can always buy a health card to avail discounts. Since these plans offer preventive health check-ups as part of the product, the members are eligible for tax benefit of up to `5,000 under Section 80D.

5. Buy for a longer tenure, buy online

Enquire and ask for a discount before you pay the premium. Some offer discounts for buying online, others for sharing your purchase on your social networking site and then there are loyalty reward points that can be redeemed as discount on premium. The public sector general insurers offer discount to customers who buy online.

6. Mind the price escalation clause

Health insurance plans are annual contracts and, if their health insurance product portfolio is performing badly, the insurer has the right to appeal to the regulator, IRDA, for a revision of premium. Also, check how steep the price changes are as you cross an age slab.


 
Best Tax Saver Mutual Funds or ELSS Mutual Funds for 2015

1.ICICI Prudential Tax Plan

2.Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund

3.HDFC TaxSaver

4.DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund

5.Religare Tax Plan

6.Franklin India TaxShield

7.Canara Robeco Equity Tax Saver

8.IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund

9.Axis Tax Saver Fund

10.BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund

You can invest Rs 1,50,000 and Save Tax under Section 80C by investing in Mutual Funds

Invest in Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online -

Invest Online

Download Application Forms

For further information contact Prajna Capital on 94 8300 8300 by leaving a missed call

---------------------------------------------

Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them

OR

You can write to us at

PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com

OR

Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300

---------------------------------------------

Invest Mutual Funds Online

Invest Any Mutual Fund Online

Download Mutual Fund Application Forms from all AMCs

Download Mutual Any Fund Application Forms

Popular posts from this blog

Am you Required to E-file Tax Return?

Download Tax Saving Mutual Fund Application Forms Invest In Tax Saving Mutual Funds Online Buy Gold Mutual Funds Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300   Am I Required to 'E-file' My Return? Yes, under the law you are required to e-file your return if your income for the year is Rs. 500,000 or more. Even if you are not required to e-file your return, it is advisable to do so for the following benefits: i) E-filing is environment friendly. ii) E-filing ensures certain validations before the return is filed. Therefore, e-returns are more accurate than the paper returns. iii) E-returns are processed faster than the paper returns. iv) E-filing can be done from the comfort of home/office and you do not have to stand in queue to e-file. v) E-returns can be accessed anytime from the tax department's e-filing portal. For further information contact Prajna Capit...
Read more

National Savings Certificate

National Savings Certificate Here's everything you need to know about the 5-year savings scheme offered by the Government This is a 5-year small savings scheme of the government. From 1 July 2016, a National Savings Certificate (NSC) can be held in the electronic mode too. Physical pre-printed NSC certificates have been discontinued and replaced with Public Provident Fund-like passbooks. What's on offer The minimum amount you can invest in them is Rs100 and there is no upper limit. Under this scheme, all deposits up to Rs1.5 lakh qualify for deduction under section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The interest earned is taxable. You can invest in multiples of Rs 100. These certificates can be owned individually, jointly and also on behalf of minors. The interest rates for all small savings schemes are released on a quarterly basis. The effective rate for NSC from 1 October to 31 December is 8%. The interest is calculated on an annual compounding basis and is given along w...
Read more

Mutual Fund Review: HDFC Index Sensex Plus

  In terms of size, HDFC Index Sensex Plus may be one of the smallest offerings from the HDFC stable. But that has not dampened its show, which has beaten the Sensex by a mile in overall returns   HDFC Index Sensex Plus is a passively managed diversified equity scheme with Sensex as its benchmark index. The fund also invests a small proportion of its equity portfolio in non-Sensex scrips. The scheme cannot boast of an impressive size and is one of the smallest in the HDFC basket with assets under management (AUM) of less than 60 crore. PERFORMANCE: Being passively managed and portfolio aligned to that of the benchmark, the performance of the index fund is expected to follow that of the benchmark and in this respect, it has not disappointed investors. Since its launch in July 2002, the fund has outperformed Sensex in overall returns by good margins.    While every 1,000 invested in HDFC Index Sensex Plus in July 2002 is worth 6,130 now, a similar amount invested in Sensex then wo...
Read more

Different types of Mutual Funds

You may not be comfortable investing in the stock market. It might not seem like your cup of tea. But you can start by investing in Mutual Funds. Many first-time investors invest in Mutual Funds. This is because they do not know how to invest in individual securities. Basic information on Mutual Funds People invest their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities through Mutual Funds. Each Fund has different schemes with specific objectives. Professional Fund Managers look after these schemes. Your Fund Manager could help you invest in a scheme that suits your financial goal. Functioning of Mutual Funds You could make money through Mutual Funds in different ways. A single Mutual Fund could hold many different stocks, bonds, and debentures. This minimizes the risk by spreading out your investment. You could earn dividends from stocks and interest from bonds. You could also earn capital by selling securities when their price increases. Usually, you could choose to sell your share any t...
Read more

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds - Tranche 2

IDFC - Long term infrastructure bonds What are infrastructure bonds? In 2010, the government introduced a new section 80CCF under the Income Tax Act, 1961 (" Income Tax Act ") to provide for income tax deductions for subscription to long-term infrastructure bonds and pursuant to that the Central Board of Direct Taxes passed Notification No. 48/2010/F.No.149/84/2010-SO(TPL) dated July 9, 2010. These long term infrastructure bonds offer an additional window of tax deduction of investments up to Rs. 20,000 for the financial year 2010-11. This deduction is over and above the Rs 1 lakh deduction available under sections 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD read with section 80CCE of the Income Tax Act. Infrastructure bonds help in intermediating the retail investor's savings into infrastructure sector directly. Long term infrastructure Bonds by IDFC IDFC issued an earlier tranche of these long term infrastructure bonds on November 12, 2010. This is the second public issue of long-te...
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