Personal Health Insurance - Must for Family

Why Health Insurance not taken

With this blog i will be sharing my life experience about personal health insurance. I have worked more than 13 years in industry with top notch companies like Infosys, Escorts, Tata & Murugappa group and never felt the need for health insurance. Two primary reasons were responsible for it. Firstly neither me or any of my family member had any serious illness, where we were hospitalized and had a requirement of huge cash required for treatment. Secondly I had worked in such reputed organizations where companies have group insurance policy for their employees and families. So never felt requirement of Personal health insurance, as all my employers had provided me a sense of security.

In past I have rejected multiple cold calls from health insurance providers, who tried to sell their product to me and always laughed i would never need one for myself.

Why the need of Personal Health Insurance was felt

I was wrong all the time right about the Personal Health Insurance, as I had a feeling that my employer will take care of my health insurance needs. below things will clarify my above statement.

1. As soon as you join a good company, employer will take care of your health insurance need. But this is also true, that as soon as you leave that organization, your health insurance gets over. Either you or your new employer has to take care of your insurance need.
2. Many reputed organization takes care of their retired employees insurance needs till their death. but here the premium is required to be paid by the retired employee
3. Another important point to be noted that any new health insurance policy doesn't cover any pre existing life threatening diseases, eg.- cancer.. so if you switch from one organization to another one your pre existing dieses will not be covered.

I realized importance of health insurance, when i recently joined a firm that doesn't had the policy of providing health insurance to their employees. Initially requirement was not felt, but after 3 months my daughter was diagnosed with serious life threatening disease, which required huge amount of money for her treatment. I checked with the insurance providers and they clarified pre existing life threatening diseases are not covered and even if we take any new policy there will be waiting period for 2-3 years for it to get covered. So, I checked with my previous employer, whether I can pay some extra premium and own the health insurance policy issued to me. Request was denied, as they doesn't have the policy to provide insurance for employees leaving them. So I was all left with my monthly salary and previous savings to get my daughter treated and saved from this life threatening disease.

One important lesson i have learned from my experience that 

"We all should have our own Personal Family Health Insurance policy and we should not rely on our employers group health insurance"

Although i was late in purchasing I would recommend all my friends of you to take one as soon as you become financially independent because

1. At lower age your policy premium will be less and you wont have any obligation to take burden of your family. this is because its assumed that at younger age one will not have any serious illness as immunity is strong
2. At younger age your premium will be less and you can carry forward with same premium amount till you get 60+ years
3. This small investment in Health insurance gives you high return for any emergency cases. As you all know that treatment of diseases like cancer can cost more than INR 2.5 million. Just do some maths for eg you had a policy of a premium of 25K annually for 40 years will cost you only INR 1 million, where as a cancer treatment will cost more than INR 2.5 Million. its a precautionary amount which we are paying to cover any unforeseen situation, where we can spend INR 2.5 million. If such situation arises we can save INR 1.5 million.

Criteria to compare Health insurance

There are multiple insurance providers in the market who are having similar kind of products available for you to purchase, but before purchasing policy you should check below parameters for comparison

1. Affordability of the premium - Coverage and premium ratio should be highest
2. Waiting period - If you are aware of the waiting period clause then you would be in a better position to make a decision. The insurer will not accept any claim arising out of pre-existing illnesses or specific illnesses during this period. And it can range anywhere between 24 months and 48 months depending on the insurer and the plan that you have chosen. Moreover, you will be able to claim the benefits only when this period is over. This waiting period shall apply to pre-existing illnesses like thyroid, blood pressure, diabetes, etc. that one may have before buying the policy. Additionally, it is applicable to certain specific treatments and illnesses like arthritis, varicose veins, cataract, etc. So, you can compare and choose a plan that comes with a minimum waiting period to be able to claim the benefits in case of a health emergency.
3. Claim settlement ratio - Buyer should select insurance provider who is having highest claim settlement ratio
4. Cashless hospitalization benefits - Health Insurance companies usually have a tie-up with network hospitals where the insured members can avail cashless treatment in case of a medical emergency. It saves you from the tedious paperwork that is required at the time of admission and claim. Moreover, the insurer pays the sum insured directly to the hospital. So you don’t need to arrange for funds and then file for its reimbursement. It will be helpful if you check with your insurer for the list of empaneled hospitals and know what all network hospitals are there in your vicinity.  
5. Age criteria - Age is one of the crucial deciding factors when it comes to health insurance. While purchasing a medical policy do keep in mind the age of the family members who need to be insured. Like in a family floater policy, the cost of premium would depend on the age of the eldest family member. Also, you would need to check out the age limit criterion when buying a health insurance cover. For instance, there are health plans that have the minimum entry age limit of 91 days and the maximum entry age limit of up to 60 years. And there are plans that have a minimum age limit of 25 years up to a maximum of 50 years. However, there are plans that do not have any restrictions on the entry age. So, you have the option to choose accordingly. 
6. Pre & Post Hospitalization criteria - Most health plans cover the medical expenses that are incurred during the hospitalization. Buy a plan that covers expenses incurred before and after the hospitalization as well to save expenses incurred on ambulance charges, medical tests, medicines, doctor fees, etc.
7. No Claim Bonus - NCB refers to the discount offered by the insurance company for all the years that you have not filed a claim. Basically your coverage amount is increased at the time of subsequent policy renewals for all claim-free years. However, most health insurance provides specify the NCB limit. And the increase in the sum insured would depend on the limit that is specified by the insurer. 

Where to buy Personal Health Insurance

Best platform for buying policy is from PolicyBazaar.com . My recommendation for everyone is to explore the app and select your policy from home. No heavy documentation is required by them. Within couple of days you will receive your personal health insurance. Although people can check with their family friends to get better premium for the explored policy. 

Before leaving I will reinstate - 

"Buy your Personal Health Insurance ASAP" because "Money saved is Money earned"