How Much Health Insurance Coverage You Need?

Now that you know about health insurance and why they are necessary for you, you must decide how much health insurance coverage you need. Various kinds of health insurance plans exist in the market, and picking the right one for you can be stressful. Individual health insurances, family floaters, senior citizen health insurances, etc., can intimidate a first-time insurance applicant at first glance.

 

Age, the status of your health, your annual income, your preferred medical institution, etc. become crucial determining factors in deciding how much coverage you need. Hence, it is very important for anyone to thoroughly research and understand how much insurance coverage you need before buying your health insurance.

Since there exist several health insurance plans in the market today, selecting a plan for yourself may seem daunting. While there exist generic health insurance plans designed to cater to a wide number of medical crises, some plans have been designed to pander to expenses arising from specific diseases that individuals might be diagnosed with like cancer and diabetes. Now, while different factors impact the likelihood of a given individual developing a serious medical condition, it is important to understand how to select a health insurance plan that provides you with adequate coverage. 

If you happen to be in your mid to late 20s, you may not suffer from any pressing health conditions. This makes the time ripe to consider purchasing a comprehensive health insurance plan that features out-patient department (or OPD) coverage. By selecting a health insurance plan that permits you to enhance your coverage in line with your age, as well as, the current inflation rate, you can lay the grounds to get financial assistance in case of a medical emergency.

 

After taking into account your lifestyle as well as your long-term plans, you can select a sum insured in health insurance that suits you along with key add-ons that provide you with additional coverage. Popular riders that are often selected include maternity coverage, accidental death rider and critical illness rider.

If you have dependents such as a spouse and children, availing of a family floater plan is recommended. This is because it features a coverage amount that can help financially secure any risks that your dependents may incur without any trouble. This kind of plan enables your family members to take advantage of health insurance benefits. Add-on riders that are popular for such a health insurance plan include newborn cover and maternity cover.

It isn’t unusual to include your parents in your family floater plan. That being said, if your parents are over 60 years old, it makes more sense to purchase a senior citizen health insurance policy that is tailored to satisfy their health insurance requirements. If you do add your parents to your family floater plan, you run the risk of driving up the cost of your premium considerably. Selecting a suitable plan that boasts of features and benefits that help cover health risks that your parents might be exposed to is a far better alternative.

The right amount of coverage is dependent on a number of factors like age, health conditions and the kind of hospital you prefer. Healthcare costs vary to a large extent depending upon the hospital and facilities you select.

 

Let’s look at an example about a knee replacement surgery. While the cost associated with choosing a domestically made implant will cost you x, the cost associated with using an imported plant is nearly 2x. Income and lifestyle are important factors that one must consider when discerning what their health insurance coverage ought to be.

 

Although there is no right amount of coverage applicable to a given health insurance policy, there exist two rules one must consider when calculating what the right amount ought to be.

 

1. Firstly, health coverage should amount to at least 50 percent of your annual income.

2. Secondly, the insurance coverage should be able to offset the cost of a coronary artery bypass graft in the hospital of your choice.

 

Given the rising costs of medical treatment and medicines, individual health insurance coverage may fall short of covering all medical expenses. Enhancing health coverage with riders and top-ups can help offset these costs

To avoid the risk of being underinsured, follow the steps mentioned below which will help you avail of sufficient health insurance coverage.

 

• Take a look at and assess your current financial situation. This involves you taking into account your lifestyle, habits and family medical history before purchasing a health insurance plan.

• Make it a point to read the fine print of a health insurance plan. Exclusions and conditions must be taken into account before buying a health insurance plan.

• Select a sum insured amount that is more than enough to provide coverage for you and your dependents. Ideally, this figure should amount to 30 to 50 times your current annual income.

• Don’t hesitate to reach out to the concerned insurer and have your queries about your health insurance terms and conditions addressed.

Best Health Insurance Plans Available at Bajaj Markets