Top #9 Tips to Find the Best Health Insurance Provider
Updated On Feb 15, 2021
In today’s world, life is a race with each one of us chasing our dreams and aspirations. This race might have brought success and luxuries in our life, but at the cost of our health and well-being. With increasing lifestyle stress, the number of health issues and lifestyle ailments are also increasing rapidly. Ailments like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, etc. are a common issue nowadays in every household and with the cost of medical facilities soaring high; a situation of medical emergency can be dreadful.
To avoid medical emergencies become financial emergencies, purchase of a health insurance for yourself and your family is a must. You cannot let financial stress trouble you when you are already in a state of physical turmoil. So, a health insurance policy is your savior in such situations of emergency.
The Need for a Health Insurance Policy
A health insurance policy is a contract according to which you can claim reimbursements for all your medical expenses from the health insurance provider. As said earlier, our changing lifestyle, improper diet, hectic work schedules, increased level of environmental pollution, etc. has made us prone to numerous diseases. The costs of medical facilities have also been rising tremendously, which can lead to depletion of all the savings of a person during a medical emergency.
A health insurance policy will provide coverage for the major medical expenses such as pre-hospitalization, hospitalization and, post-hospitalization. Other expenses such as domiciliary expenses, ambulance expenses, OPD expenses, maternity and, newborn expenditure, etc. are also covered by health insurance policies. In addition to these benefits, health insurance policies also act as a method for saving taxes. So, a health insurance policy is a mandate because a medical emergency can creep into our lives anytime without any prior notice, and we should be well-prepared to face them.
You must also read Family Health Plan - Why it is necessary for you and your family?
Choosing the Best Health Insurance Provider
The worthiness of a health insurance policy is mostly dependent on the health insurance provider from whom you are purchasing your health insurance policy. Today, there are multiple health insurance providers available in the market, providing health insurance plans. Amongst these numerous insurance providers, it is quite difficult for a common man to find out which one would be the best for him. So, let us have a look at some of the most useful tips which will be of great help to you in selecting the best insurance provider for yourself and your family.
Top #9 useful tips in selecting the best health insurer in India:
1. Background verification of the health insurance provider
This is a crucial step all of us should practice before finalizing a particular health insurance provider. The background of the insurance provider tells a lot about the services they would provide to you. You should make a check on the past history of the company, their products and, features of the products, claim settlement ratio of the insurer, etc. These factors can help you in deciding whether to choose that particular insurance provider or not.
2. Right kind of policy being offered
It is quite important that you must select the health insurer who is offering you the right kind of policy which suits up to your requirements. There might be several insurance providers with plans at a lower premium but might not be providing adequate coverage in the long run. This will be a loss for you to opt for such insurers. It is advisable to have a thorough research done by comparing health insurance policies and their coverage online and then select the best one which fulfils your requirements.
3. Premium charged for health insurance
You will be paying this amount to the insurer so; it is quite obvious that you will find out the benefits you are getting for the premium that you are being charged. Many insurers might include additional riders and charge for an extra premium, but you should always opt for those add-ons or riders which you actually need. It is advisable to do online research and compare policies on insurance aggregator regarding the premium charged and benefits being provided. Always opt for a health insurer who charges a fair premium and provides a health insurance policy with comprehensive coverage.
Some insurance plans such as Religare Health Insurance-Care, Bajaj Allianz Health Guard, Max Bupa Health Companion Health Insurance Plan, etc. provide comprehensive coverage at a reasonable premium.
4. Clause of co-payment
This is an essential factor to be considered while deciding about the health insurer. Many insurance providers come up with this clause of co-payment, i.e. the insured person will have to bear a certain percentage of the medical expense, and the insurer starts bearing the expenses only when it has gone beyond this specified percentage. Ideally, you should always opt for an insurer who offers a health insurance plan without any co-payment clause, or the percentage of expense which you are going to bear is low.
You may also like to read Top health insurance plans without co-payment feature
5. Lifelong renewal and low waiting period
Usually, the need for renewing a health insurance policy is needed when you start growing old, i.e. within the age of 70-80 rather than when you are young. So, it is advisable to opt for a health insurance policy which offers the feature of lifelong renewal.
Health insurance providers offer plans with coverage for certain pre-existing diseases like diabetes, hypertension, maternity benefits, etc. but after a particular waiting period. You should select an insurance provider which provides coverage for these pre-existing diseases within a low waiting period.
You may also like to read Top health insurance plans with regard to the waiting period
6. Wide coverage of network hospitals
You should select an insurance provider which provides a larger coverage of network hospitals where cashless hospitalization and medical facilities can be obtained at the time of a medical emergency.
7. Sub-limits
Sub-limits in a health insurance plan are applied by the health insurers when it comes to benefits like rent of the room, consultation charges of the doctor. When the expenses for these services exceed the sub-limit, the remaining expense will be paid by the insured person. So, it is necessary to purchase a health insurance policy with minimal or no sub-limits at all.
8. List of exclusions
This is an important factor which most of us do not keep in mind while considering a health insurer. But, it is quite important as there are a large number of insurance providers who put certain ailments like treatment-related to eyes, dental procedures, HIV or AIDS, cosmetic surgeries, etc. Ideally, you should check the exclusion list before you go ahead and finalize a health insurer. The health insurance provider you are choosing must provide insurance plans with less number of exclusions.
You may also like to read The top most common exclusions of any health insurance plan
9. Consider reviews by other customers
You can sincerely read the reviews that are being provided by other customers online. This will help you in knowing about the significant benefits and the drawbacks of health insurance plans offered by various insurers. This can help you in making your decision about which health insurer to choose for yourself.
Hence, while purchasing a health insurance policy is a necessity in our lives today, then why not choose a policy from a “right” insurer and enjoy the benefits. In addition to following the basic tips, you should mainly compare health insurance policies online and find out about the premium and benefits. You can also speak to your friends and relatives about the “right” health insurance providers. Your choice of a health insurer will put an impact on the benefits you are obtaining from the health insurance policy.
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