Health Insurance

Dear Friend,

In continuation to my previous post about Insurance, today I will take you through Health insurance and its importance.

The most neglected part of our life is Health and Health insurance. More than half of our population is not even aware about Health insurance and its benefits. 


Image courtesy: Google


What is Health Insurance?
Health insurance is an insurance product which covers the cost of an insured individual's medical and surgical expenses. In many countries, like UK and Canada, health care coverage is provided by the state and is seen as every citizen's right.

Need for Health Insurance
Medicare or medical costs are rising year by year. In fact, inflation in medical costs is higher than inflation in general items. While inflation in food and clothing is in single digits, Medicare costs usually escalate in double digits. The rapidly increasing medical cost has made it necessary for all individuals to protect themselves and their families with a wide and affordable health insurance plan.

Take heart surgery, its cost today could vary in the region of Rs 1.5 lakhs to Rs 3 lakhs. As an estimate after 10 years same will cost in range of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
For an individual who hasn’t saved that much money, arranging for funds at the eleventh hour can be a task. This is particularly tough for seniors, who have very little or no source of income and ailments are very common at this age.

In simple terms, when you buy a Health insurance policy, you pay a relatively small premium to save yourselves from big expenses if in case of any unforeseen medical emergency.

Types of health Insurance:

1.      Individual health insurance plans: This is the most famous type of Insurance policy in India. In this plan, a single individual is insured for a particular sum of amount for a year or as per the policy term. Here the policy premium depends on the age of the insured, your lifestyle and Medical history.
For example, Gaurav, 25 years old, buys an Individual health insurance plan of sum insured 5 lakhs. In this case, his yearly premium will come around Rs. 4000 to 9000 depending on various features of policy. He can take such individual policies for every member in the family.

2.     Family Floater Plans: As the name itself suggests, this is a single plan for complete family and the sum insured is shared by everyone in the family. Premium for this family is decided as per the number of family members and age of the eldest member of family. So this plan is beneficial for the young families.
For example, Suppose Gaurav, 35 years old, wishes to buy a family for his family which consists him, his spouse and 2 children. In this case he can go for a higher cover of 10 lakhs. Now his premium will come around Rs. 13000 to Rs. 20000/-

Comparison of Individual plans and Family floater plans:
A.    Individual plans are better for Senior citizens. In case of family floater plans, premium depends on the age of eldest member of family; you will end up paying a very high premium for same cover.
B.    Family floater plans are good for Young families consisting of Husband, Wife and little kids. In this plan you will get a higher cover limit for a premium which comes lower than the combined individual plans premium of whole family.
C.    Family floaters are not the best plan in case of any contagious disease which affects the complete family together or an unfortunate accident. In this case whole family will have to share the complete cover together which might fall short sometimes.


Taking all advantages and short comings into consideration, if your family consists of your parents, You, Your spouse and kids, I will suggest you to take both type of plans, an Individual plan for your parents and a single family floater plan for you, your spouse and kids. This will be the most economical one.

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