Deciding to buy health insurance is easy. Anticipating how much cover you need is not. Here are a few things to bear in mind.
Health insurance is a growing sector in India today. As stress and lifestyle diseases take a toll on more people than ever before, we are waking up to the advantages of health insurance. Rising inflation and exorbitant treatment costs in the country make it difficult for many people to finance their own medical care. Hence, health insurance proves to be the best defence against future medical costs.
However, most people are confused about how much health cover they need. The sum assured of the policy should be a sizeable figure, which will help the family tide over a health crisis. Insufficient cover and irrelevant add-ons will not help at all.
How does one decide the cover one actually needs? There is no magic number in answer to this question. The needs of every family are different, and so is the health coverage required. Instead of trying to find a sum assured pegged at a certain figure, it is more important to ask these questions while deciding on the cover:
* How much can one pay? The best health insurance policies with a host of add-on benefits may be out of your reach for one factor: the premium. The higher the sum assured, the higher is the premium payment. The premium is also calculated basis the tenure of the policy. Instead of choosing a policy simply because it looks attractive, one must choose it based on one’s payment capacity. You can buy a policy with a low premium amount at first, then enhance the coverage when you are able to pay more.
* How old is one? Age is a critical element in deciding the health insurance coverage. Buying health insurance at a young age results in the policy holder paying lower premiums. The older one gets, the higher the premium amount becomes. Also, one can start with a lower coverage amount and steadily enhance it as one ages. This means that the health insurance policy will yield a large sum assured.
* Can it help in case of income loss? When taking health insurance, you should choose a cover that amounts to at least 50% of your income per annum. To this number, you should add a number that equals your estimated medical costs for last four or five years. The number you now arrive at will be the rough estimated health coverage you will need. Discuss this calculation with your insurance advisor for greater clarity.
* Which sort of coverage does one need? A person with a small and young family will need different coverage from a person whose family has a history of hereditary diseases. In the case of the latter, it is important to take critical illness coverage and a higher coverage. Also, the coverage will be determined by how many people are covered in the policy, which kind of add-on benefits one is taking, and so on.
You can check out Max Bupa’s entire range of health insurance policies to find one that suits all your requirements. You can even use the online calculator on the site to find the sum assured and premium payments.
Health insurance is a growing sector in India today. As stress and lifestyle diseases take a toll on more people than ever before, we are waking up to the advantages of health insurance. Rising inflation and exorbitant treatment costs in the country make it difficult for many people to finance their own medical care. Hence, health insurance proves to be the best defence against future medical costs.
However, most people are confused about how much health cover they need. The sum assured of the policy should be a sizeable figure, which will help the family tide over a health crisis. Insufficient cover and irrelevant add-ons will not help at all.
How does one decide the cover one actually needs? There is no magic number in answer to this question. The needs of every family are different, and so is the health coverage required. Instead of trying to find a sum assured pegged at a certain figure, it is more important to ask these questions while deciding on the cover:
* How much can one pay? The best health insurance policies with a host of add-on benefits may be out of your reach for one factor: the premium. The higher the sum assured, the higher is the premium payment. The premium is also calculated basis the tenure of the policy. Instead of choosing a policy simply because it looks attractive, one must choose it based on one’s payment capacity. You can buy a policy with a low premium amount at first, then enhance the coverage when you are able to pay more.
* How old is one? Age is a critical element in deciding the health insurance coverage. Buying health insurance at a young age results in the policy holder paying lower premiums. The older one gets, the higher the premium amount becomes. Also, one can start with a lower coverage amount and steadily enhance it as one ages. This means that the health insurance policy will yield a large sum assured.
* Can it help in case of income loss? When taking health insurance, you should choose a cover that amounts to at least 50% of your income per annum. To this number, you should add a number that equals your estimated medical costs for last four or five years. The number you now arrive at will be the rough estimated health coverage you will need. Discuss this calculation with your insurance advisor for greater clarity.
* Which sort of coverage does one need? A person with a small and young family will need different coverage from a person whose family has a history of hereditary diseases. In the case of the latter, it is important to take critical illness coverage and a higher coverage. Also, the coverage will be determined by how many people are covered in the policy, which kind of add-on benefits one is taking, and so on.
You can check out Max Bupa’s entire range of health insurance policies to find one that suits all your requirements. You can even use the online calculator on the site to find the sum assured and premium payments.