Skip to main content

Steps to Buy Health Insurance Plan

Best SIP Funds to Invest Online 


A few months ago, I got a frantic call from a friend who wanted me to "quickly" recommend a good health insurance plan, as she wanted to urgently furnish tax deduction proofs to her employer. She didn't have the time to research and buy insurance, plus she found the products way too complicated. That got me thinking.

How can one quickly buy a health insurance plan on his own? Here's a quick guide for beginners.

There are three ground rules —Don't buy in a hurry; don't buy based on a friend's or agent's recommendation; and lastly, don't buy based on price (health insurance plans can restrict the quality of healthcare through room eligibility and network of hospitals). Let's look at the steps:

Step 1: The right amount

The primary purpose of health insurance is to provide financial support. Over the past few years, inflation in healthcare sector has seen a double-digit growth and increased lifestyle diseases, along with critical illnesses, has made it important to buy a relevant cover. Hospital bills now range from a minimum of Rs50,000 to Rs5 lakh. Factoring even a 5% inflation for 15 years, your family will need a cover of Rs15 lakh in 2033. For most of us in our 30s and 40s, it is necessary to have a cover of at least ₹10 lakh.

Step 2: Five parameters

Room eligibility: Insurers have a cap on room rent and type of room you occupy. If the room category is higher than the prescribed limit, you will be liable to not only pay the difference, but bear proportionate deductions on the entire hospital bill. It is advisable to choose a plan offering at least a single private room or the one that has no limit on room rent.

Co-payments and limits: For some health insurance plans, you have to pay a part of your bill, say 10% to 20% through the co-payment clause. This may also be applicable after reaching old age. Ensure you always check for the co-pay or limitation clause.

Day-care treatments: An ideal policy should cover all day-care treatments and not have a restrictive list.

Network hospitals coverage: Check whether the top hospitals you are likely to visit in case of an unfortunate hospitalisation are covered under the provider network of the insurance company you choose.

Relevant benefits: There are some features that could be relevant completely based on your own personal requirements. For instance, if you are a newly married couple, a maternity cover may be important to you, for a some worldwide hospitalisation coverage may be relevant. Keep your future requirements in mind.

Also, look at these three features:

Restoration benefits: If you are buying a floater plan, restoration benefit can be of great long-term value.

No claim bonus: Insurers reward their customers for having a claim-free year with an increase in their sum assured ranging from 5-50% at the same premium, which is known as the no claim bonus. This can be a useful buffer against healthcare inflation.

Free health check-up: Some insurers provide free health checkups, assessment of medical reports, health coaching and monetary rewards.

Step 3: Disclosures

Disclose complete details of your medical history and all health-related information and conditions without fail, because suppression or misrepresentation of facts can lead to claim rejection in the future. In the last several years, we have seen many well-meaning customers fret too much, over-compare and endlessly wait for their ideal health insurance plan to arrive. Finally, some of these people miss buying completely and end up footing heavy bills. A plan that matches 85-90% of your requirements is better than missing out on it.




SIPs are Best Investments when Stock Market is high volatile. Invest in Best Mutual Fund SIPs and get good returns over a period of time. Know Top SIP Funds to Invest Save Tax Get Rich - Best ELSS Funds

For more information on Top SIP Mutual Funds contact Save Tax Get Rich on 94 8300 8300

OR

You can write to us at

Invest [at] SaveTaxGetRich [dot] Com

Popular posts from this blog

ULIP Review: ProGrowth Super II

  If you are interested in a death cover that's just big enough, HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is something worth a try. The beauty is it has something for everybody — you name the risk profile, the category is right up there. But do a SWOT analysis of the basket, and the gloss fades     HDFC SL ProGrowth Super II is a type-II unit-linked insurance plan ( ULIP ). Launched in September 2010, this is a small ticket-size scheme with multiple rider options and adequate death cover. It offers five investment options (funds) — one in each category of large-cap equity, mid-cap equity, balanced, debt and money market fund. COST STRUCTURE: ProGrowth Super II is reasonably priced, with the premium allocation charge lower than most others in the category. However, the scheme's mortality charge is almost 60% that of LIC mortality table for those investing early in life. This charge reduces with age. BENEFITS: Investors can choose a sum assured between 10-40 times the annualised premium...

Section 80CCD

Top SIP Funds Online   Income tax deduction under section 80CCD Under Income Tax, TaxPayers have the benefit of claiming several deductions. Out of the deduction avenues, Section 80CCD provides t axpayer deductions against investments made in specific sector s. Under Section 80CCD, an assessee is eligible to claim deductions against the contributions made to the National Pension Scheme or Atal Pension Yojana. Contributions made by an employer to National Pension Scheme are also eligible for deductions under the provisions of Section 80 CCD. In this article, we will take a look at the primary features of this section, the terms and conditions for claiming deductions, the eligibility to claim such deductions, and some of the commonly asked questions in this regard. There are two parts of Section 80CCD. Subsection 1 of this section refers to tax deductions for all assesses who are central government or state government employees, or self-employed or employed by any other employers. In...

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...

Bharat Bond ETF

Top SIP Funds Online   The government of India has paved the way for the launch of India's first corporate bond ETF called as Bharat Bond ETF. Edelweiss Mutual Fund will be managing it. The fund is mandated to invest in AAA-rated bonds of select public sector companies (see the table 'List of constituents and their proportions in the portfolio'). The government has a threefold objective behind launching this product. One, to deepen the liquidity of the Indian debt markets and provide a gateway for easy retail participation. Two, to solve investors' dilemma of picking premium bonds. Lastly, to help the underlying government-owned companies raise funding for their operations. But does it make sense for you, the investor, to invest in it? Lets find out. What is the product? As the name suggests, it is an exchange-traded fund which will be listed on a stock exchange from where its units can be bought and sold post launch. It will have two variants - one maturing in 3 ye...

What is Electronic Clearing Service (ECS)?

  As the name suggests, it's an electronic process through which money can be transferred from one bank account to another. According to RBI, this mode is usually used for regular payments and receipts, like distribution of dividend, interest, salary, pension etc. This mode is also used for collection of bills for telephone, electricity, water, various types of taxes, payment of EMIs , investments in mutual funds , payment of insurance premium etc. There are two types of ECS , like most other banking transactions, ECS credit and ECS debit. An ECS credit is used by a bank account holder , usually a large company or an institution for services like payment of dividend, in terest, salary, pension etc. If your mutual fund pays you dividend to your bank account, of all probability it is being paid through ECS credit.ECS debit, on the other hand, is used when a company or an institution is getting money from a large number of people. For example if you are investing in a mutual fund sc...
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