What are different types of health insurance policies in India?

Albert Howard

What are different types of health insurance policies in India?

If you want to protect your health and secure yourself and your family from the unforeseen health conditions and emergencies, you surely need a health insurance plan. Moreover, the exceptional surge in healthcare costs has made it pertinent for everyone to have a health insurance policy to mitigate the expenses incurred on such costs. And to choose the right health plan it is essential to know about the different types of health insurance policies available. Only when you know about various plans, you can opt for the best one for you and your family.  

So, let us discuss the various types of health insurance policies that you can procure in India.

Types of Health Insurance Plans available in India 

The main two categories of health insurance plans are, namely, Defined Benefit Plans and Indemnity Plans.

Indemnity health insurance plans

Now, the Indemnity health insurance plans are the typical or conventional plans where the insured gets covered up to the amount of sum insured in case of hospitalization.  

Unit-linked health plans, Senior citizen health coverage, Mediclaim insurance plan, Individual Health Coverage and Family Floater Coverage etc.

Unit-linked health plans or ULIPs serve the dual purpose of investment and insurance plans. 

Medical Insurances allow coverage for hospitalization costs incurred on different diseases. 

Group Mediclaim policies are offered by employers to employees of medium and large organizations.

Individual Health Plans secure a single person with health cover.  

Family Floater Health Plans offer coverage to the entire family under a single plan. 

Definite Benefit Plans

Alternatively, the Definite Benefit health insurance Plans are those under which the policyholder gets compensation in the form of a lump sum amount when a disease is detected.  Some of these Definite Benefit Plans include Personal Accident Plan, Critical Illness Plan, Hospitalization Cash Benefit plan. 

A Personal Accident Plan covers driver/owner against injuries in case of an accident by paying a lump sum amount. 

Critical Illness Plan caters to some specific diseases that are caused mainly due to lifestyle and related causes, such as Diabetes, Coronary Heart diseases, Cancer, kidney failure etc. 

Hospitalization Cash Benefit allows the insured to get the daily cash allowance benefit to a limit, along with hospitalization costs.

Reasons to Buy Health Insurance while you are young 

You can get the policy at Lower Premium – Of course buying a health plan at a young age has its numerous benefits. The best among them is that you can pay lower premiums. This is because when you are young you are healthy and thus you pose less health risks to your insurer. So, they levy low premiums on you.    

You can get any Insurance Plan easily – Obtaining Health Insurance becomes difficult if you have diseases. However, when you are young you are not prone to too many diseases, which makes it easy for you to avail health insurance.   

You can enjoy Tax Benefits – Income Tax Act’s Section 80D allows the insured to enjoy numerous tax benefits under their health plan. So, buying a health plan early on in life lets you enjoy tax benefits for an extensive period of time.

You can keep your Savings intact – Since health insurance takes care of the financial needs in terms of health, people can have their savings intact. 

You can serve the Waiting Period easily – Health insurance comes with a 30 days initial waiting period along with a extensive waiting period of 2-4 years for pre-existing diseases. By buying a health plan early in life, you can serve this period easily. 

You can avail Bonus – Most health insurance companies offer an added bonus or NCB for not claiming your health insurance during a policy year. So, for every claim free year, you can avail a bonus of up to 50 %. So, if you buy a health plan at a young age, you can accumulate enough NCB bonus. These bonuses help in reducing the premium of your health plan further or in enhancing the sum insured amount.

To Conclude  

There are a variety of health insurance plans to cater to the varied needs of individuals. All it takes for the policy seeker is to compare and search for the best health insurance policy as per your needs. By obtaining your health plan from PayBima would allow you to make sure to grab the best plan with best coverage from the best insurer.