If you have ever tried buying a life insurance policy online, it is likely that the insurance company’s website will prompt and ask if you would like to buy an additional health plan too. The health insurance market, which till some years back was exclusively the domain of general insurance companies, has now been invaded by the life insurance providers with each one of them having at least two or three medical insurance policies in their product suite, along with the term, ULIP and retirement plans. How do the mediclaim policies offered by Life insurers differ from those offered by mediclaim companies ?
- General insurance (GI) companies usually offer plain vanilla products which are easy to understand, while those offered by life insurers (LI) tend to have a host of different options to choose from, with some policies also investing a part of the premium collected in to the markets, similar to ULIPs.
- Mediclaim policies of GI companies are non benefit policies wherein the actual amount spent is reimbursed in the event of a claim subject to the health cover limit. But health covers offered by life insurers are fixed benefit policies, which pay the insured a fixed amount on diagnosis of any illness irrespective of the actual cost incurred.
- For the same amount of health cover, the premiums charged by a general insurance company is usually lesser than that of a life insurance company. Hence, a medical cover by a life insurer is more expensive.
- Mediclaim policies by GIs offer a cover for a year or a maximum 2 years at a stretch, after which they have to be renewed by payment of premium for the next year. The premium also doesn’t remain constant always and increases when the client moves to the higher age bracket. Health covers by life insurers can be taken for a long term, like 15 or 20 years and the premium to be paid remains constant over the term of the policy.
- Last year, IRDA came out with the facility of health insurance portability, giving the insured customer the right to move his policy to any other health insurance provider if he or she is dissatisfied with the product or service. It is important to note that this facility applies only to indemnity policies issued by non-life insurance companies. Hence health policies by life insurers cannot be ported, which is a big drawback.
With the rising costs of medical treatment, it is always advisable to go in for a health cover with a indemnity benefit, where the actual cost incurred is reimbursed, as a fixed benefit policy may not suffice incase one were to contract a critical illness or any other serious ailment where the cost could run in to lakhs of rupees. An add-on health cover with a fixed outgo can be taken optionally.
Good one. Can you comment on the Health Policies for Senior Citizens ? I paid Rs 45 K as yearly premium for a 5 L cover for self & wife in Max Bupa & the premium increases year on year.
Though their Services are good & they are quite fast in clearing it in case of hospitalisation , are there better & cheaper options available for Senior Citizens ??
Based on the premium and the amount of cover, I presume you must be in the 60 – 65 years age bracket. Health Insurance premiums tend to increase with age, and this increase is more steep when the person crosses 60 years of age, since the risk to the insuring company also increases accordingly.However, usually premiums do not increase every year, unless there is a substantial claim and change only when the client moves to the next age bracket. If one wishes to reduce the premiums keeping the health cover constant, one way of doing this is to renew the policy for 2 years at a stretch- as most companies offer a 10 – 20 % discount on premium if paid for 2 years at a stretch. Another way is to take a policy with sub-limits. Here,max. limits are set for diff. kinds of ailments and surgeries, and this works out cheaper as the co. assumes lesser risk But, this isnt advisable, since the insured may not get the full reimbursement in the event of a claim.
There are a few websites like policybazaar etc. which you can visit for health premium quotes across different insurers.