Further to the previous article on the importance of owning a personal health policy, let us look at a few things to consider to ensure that you buy a customized comprehensive health cover which takes care of all your needs.

1. Lifetime renewability – It is recommended that you choose a policy which has this clause and can be renewed for your entire lifetime. Many policies cover only till age 65, 70 or 75 leaving you without a cover when you need it the most.
2. Waiting period for pre-existing diseases – If you have a pre-existing illness, opt for a policy which has the least waiting period-which usually varies from 2 years to 4 years.
3. Floater option – If you have a family to be insured (spouse, kids and dependent parents), take a floater plan where all members can be covered under one single plan rather than taking individual plans for each one.
4. Cashless hospitalization – It is very important to choose a health service provider which has a reasonably wide network of providers for cashless hospitalization. If one avails the services of a non networked hospital, he or she would first have to bear the hospital expenses on their own and later claim reimbursement.
5. Policy period – Most health policies can be taken for 1 year or 2 years at a stretch. If you can afford it, opt for a 2 year plan as it works out cheaper. Most companies offer a discount and facilities like a free medical checkup every 2 years for a 2 year plan and also it saves you the hassle of renewing the policy every year.
6. Optimum sum Insured – Health insurance premiums are quite affordable, hence it is advisable that you insure yourself adequately and avoid choosing a lower sum insured just to save on the premium. Most health care providers normally offer upto 10 lakhs of cover and can customize plans of upto even 50 lakhs as required by the client.
7. Choose from other additional covers– Apart from these basic features, all health insurers offer several different additional covers like ambulance, maternity, daily hospital cash, outpatient expenses, preventive healthcare, personal accident cover critical illness cover etc. which can be opted as required for an extra charge.