How to Get the Best Deal on Health Insurance

The insurance market is flooded with several kinds of health insurance policies. The variety may overwhelm you and make it difficult to find desired health insurance plan. It takes thorough searches and asking around to find the best health insurance deals.

Here are some ways to get the best health insurance deals:

Start Early
Insurance companies offer the most attractive plans to young people as they are healthy. It is advisable to buy a health insurance in your 20s. The premiums are lower than what one would pay if purchasing a health policy in 30s, 40s or beyond. Insurance companies also increase the insurance cover over time for young customers in case they have not filed a claim and also reward by giving a no claim bonus.

Know Your Needs
It is important to pen down ones requirement before shopping around for policies. Clarity makes it possible to get attractive deals as one is not swayed by what the insurance company is pushing.

Be Honest
Be honest when buying a health insurance. Disclose correct information about your smoking and drinking habits, allergies and pre-existing ailments. Failure to do so will lead to rejection of claim if it is later found that information provided earlier was false.

Shop Around
Visit websites of insurance brokers and aggregators to get information on different policies at one place and compare the benefits and features. Make sure you read the fine print to understand the intricacies of each policy. Use insurance comparison websites like www.suggestinsurance.comto compare different health insurance plans to get the best deal.

Purchase Online
The best deals are mostly available online. Online purchase of health insurance plans is cheaper than the conventional offline method. Insurance companies save costs when purchases are made online from their websites and pass on some benefits to their customers. Lower premiums, wider plan coverage and other add-on benefits are available for online purchases.

Health Insurance Plan – The Big Objective of Insurance Companies

Healthcare costs continue to rise with each passing year. In fact, the yearly increase in healthcare costs outpaces inflation significantly. This leads to significant cash crunch in times of medical emergencies and people have to ask for loans from family and friends to pay for their treatment. However, the situation can be easily avoided with a health insurance policy.

Health insurance allows you to pay for all your healthcare expenses. And some policies provide health cover not only for the insured individual but also for his or her family members. Depending on the type of policy and insurance cover, expenses incurred are either reimbursed or paid for directly to the healthcare provider. Like in the case of other insurance, one has to pay regular premiums for health insurance. In return, the insurance company covers a portion of the medical costs. Health insurance is an important component of an employee benefits package and is used to attract quality talent by employers.

There are various types of health insurance plans available in the market today. Essentially, there are three kinds of health insurance covers:

Individual Health Insurance or Individual Mediclaim
This is the simplest and most popular type of health insurance plan available in the market. It offers risk cover to an individual towards medical and hospitalisation expenses to the extent of the sum assured.

Family Floater Plan
These plans are improved form of healthcare policies and are cheaper than individual policies. The term ‘floater’ means that a single sum insured covers all members of a family and is available to one or more members in case of an eventuality.

Unit Linked Health Plan (ULHP)
These are similar to unit linked insurance plans (ULIPs), they offer a mix of health insurance and investment. A part of the premium is invested, and the rest is available for health cover, providing a safety net as well as returns.

Benefits of Health Insurance
• Peace of mind since you don’t have to worry about medical expenses
• Reimbursement of pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses
• Income tax benefits under section 80D
• Flexible insurance cover
• Benefit of lifelong renewal – avail facilities up to old age
• No need to carry cash – avail cashless treatment in case of hospitalisation