Tips to Reduce Your Health Insurance Premium

While deciding upon the best health insurance in India, an important factor is the outlay by way of premium payments. There are several factors that influence the premium charge like the risk profile of the potential customer i.e. the medical history, pre-existing medical illness, gender, age group, lifestyle, marital status, Body Mass Index (BMI), etc. The insurers are keen to reduce their financial risk. Thus, the insurance companies determine the premium amount after considering the following risk factors.

• Pre-existing medical ailments: The applicant must disclose his or her complete medical records, including details of any pre-existing illness or serious medical condition. In case of any such existing medical disorder, the insurer may choose to cover it or exclude it. In case it falls outside the scope of the health insurance plans, the insured would have to solely bear the medical costs of treatment. In case it is covered, the premium charged might be slightly higher to compensate for the higher risk.
•  Medical history of the family: Often several diseases are genetic i.e. transferred from generations. Thus, in case of a family history of a certain disease class like heart trouble or cancer, the family members are at high risk of contracting the same. Thus, the premium would be higher.
•  Obesity: People who are obese or overweight are at higher risk of developing medical disorder than those with normal Body Mass Index (BMI). Obesity often causes serious ailments like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Often, obese ladies have medical complications while delivering a child and require specialized medical care during pregnancy. This hikes up the premium charged.
• Consumption of unhealthy substances: Often people who consume harmful substances like alcohol or are smokers are prone to serious life-threatening diseases like cancer and high BP. Factoring the risk from these bad habits, the insurance companies increase the premium charges.  Thus, it is prudent to kick the butt at the earliest to regain good health.
•  Gender: Many health insurance plans have different premium rates for women and men. The differential is higher for women as expert studies indicate that women are more likely to undertake frequent doctor visits, take medication and suffer from chronic diseases. Thus, it’s vital that ladies follow a nutritional diet, take adequate care to avoid diseases, and strengthen their immune system.
•  Age group: Health insurance is one example where old is not gold! As one tends to age, it is natural to contract diseases or begin to suffer the adverse impacts of existing diseases more. This is because the body’s immunity levels decline. Thus, it is prudent to opt for a health insurance plan early in one’s life and renew the policy throughout. This would prevent the premiums from becoming too expensive.
• Nature of profession: Policyholders who work in stressful conditions involving extensive travel, including international travel, working in hazardous environments or in places with high risk of sustaining injuries like construction sites have to shell out more on health premiums.
• Not yet insured: Insurance companies charge higher premiums from uninsured individuals. This is because the risk of an undetected medical condition is high. They anticipate that the insured is taking the policy as they expect to be making more frequent doctor visits. Thus, the premiums are higher.
• Place of stay: Many insurers factor in the location risk of a particular place by charging higher premiums. Places prone to frequent natural calamities or high in altitude would have some risk factors which would be commonly shared by all the residents.  

Thus, in conclusion, the #1 tip to reduce health premiums is to take care of one’s health and remain healthy. An example of this is the no claim bonus, where the insurance company rewards the insured for staying healthy by reducing the premium charged.

Benefits of Family Health Insurance

Most of us feel worried about the health security of our family members; don’t we? Life is quite unpredictable, and this is why we must protect our loved ones in every way possible. Health insurance plans in India are available in plenty these days. All you have to do is buy the right family health insurance policy. You can get all the family members covered under a family floater health plan. Once you get them covered, it definitely gives you a sense of relief, particularly from the perspective of finances.

These policies come loaded with a lot of features and add-ons. You can get a policy customized as per the health requirements and medical history of your family. It is a great way to ensure an optimum level of protection to your family. Before you start looking for one, let us take a quick look at some of the main advantages of buying a family floater health insurance policy.

• It covers different healthcare needs: In any family, the healthcare requirements vary from person to person. Each individual will need a health care plan that matches his/her requirements. When you buy an individual health cover, you cannot expect each and every illness to be in its list of inclusions. On the other hand, family health insurance policies offer greater medical coverage. For a family of 4 to 8 members, buying a family floater health cover is the best decision one can make.
• Easy to add/include new family member: Having a family floater cover provides you with a lot of freedom and flexibility. The best policies allow you to add up to 8 members to your existing family floater health insurance plan. You can add your parents to your current family floater policy. You may even add your new-born child to the same policy. So, it saves you from the hassles of going through the process of buying a new policy.
• Cost-effective: If you compare the cost of buying several individual health insurance policies with that of a single family floater policy, you will always find the latter to be cheaper. Before you buy health insurance from any insurer, you must ask about their family floater health insurance products. Chances are high that you will end up with better discounts.
• Higher sum insured: The amount of sum insured you get with a family floater policy is relatively higher. The amount usually depends on the number of members included by you under the policy. Having a higher sum insured offers more protection to your family members. In case one of your family members falls sick, you will not have to worry about the high hospital bills. Even if the sum insured is exhausted, you can buy additional cover.  

So, those are some of the benefits of buying a family floater health insurance plan. When you buy health insurance for your family, you must compare the options available. It is better to choose one that offers more cover, without charging high premiums. 

MORE Health Insurance Plan from Reliance Health Insurance

One of the best plan - Easy-to-choose, Easy-to-buy and Easy-to-use. MORE Health Insurance cover with three unique MORE benefits.

MORETime: This benefit gives you 13 months cover for a 12 month premium; or 26 months cover for a 24 month premium which means, you get one month free in a one year plan and two months free in a two years plan respectively

MORECover: This benefit gives you ₹ 2 lakh additional free cover on ₹ 5 lakh cover; or ₹ 3 lakh additional free cover on ₹ 10 lakh cover, that means your ₹ 5 Lakhs cover becomes ₹ 7 lakhs and ₹ 10 lakh cover becomes ₹ 13 lakhs respectively

MOREGlobal: This provides coverage for unexpected treatments required while travelling overseas.

More benefits cover by MORE Health Insurance Plan from Reliance Health Insurance

• Robotic Surgery

• Mental Illnesses

• Stem Cell therapy

• Restore Benefit

• Life long Renewal

• Pre and Post Hospitalisation

• Domiciliary Treatment

• Organ Donor Coverage

• Alternative Treatments

Visit Reliance Health Insurance website and buy health insurance policy online and enjoy 10% discount.

Which is the best health insurance policy for an individual?

The best health insurance policy for an individual will differ from person to person. Different factors like age, sex, location, income, and current risk diseases greatly affect in choosing the best insurance policy for you. However, in general, health insurance service providers in India offer great service at very competitive rates. So, here are our top 5 picks for the best insurance coverage for an individual in India.

• Religare Health Insurance

Religare Health Insurance provides one of the best plans for an individual’s needs in health coverage. Its special features include organ donor cover, domiciliary hospitalization, and second opinion cover. The plan also provides emergency ambulance cover (including air ambulance if necessary), global coverage, annual health check-ups and up to 150% no claim bonus. This health insurance is all-encompassing and very popular for individuals.

• Aditya Birla Health Insurance

When it comes to individual health insurance policy it does not get more comprehensive than Aditya Birla Health Insurance. This scheme covers everything from hospitalization to timely health check-ups. The policy also provides the opportunity to earn back up to 30% of your premiums as HealthReturns. Coverage for Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Yoga, Naturopathy, and Homeopathy systems are as well included.

• Reliance Health Insurance - MORE

Reliance Health Insurance – MORE health insurance is one of the most affordable health insurance plans that allows individuals with a wide range of options to choose from. It has a network of 4000 hospitals across India to avail cashless hospitalization and one as well avail reimbursement of both pre and post hospitalization expenses for over 60 days each. Also, at the end of each year and individual can claim-free year, a cumulative bonus of 33.33 percent on the basic sum assured at zero additional cost.

• Max Bhupa Health Companion

Max Bhupa Health Companion is another health insurance policy that is perfect for individual coverage. This health insurance promises cash approvals within 30 minutes. Other than this, it features limit hospital accommodation, no claim bonuses, and some useful and economical top-up options. It also offers discounts on 2-year policies. Its coverage, which includes hospitalizations, medication, and health check-ups, makes it a great policy for all the individuals.

• Apollo Munich Easy Health

The Apollo Munich Easy Health insurance offers individual health insurance under the name of Optima Restore. The scheme features an instant addition of 100% basic sum insured on the cover, on the first claim. Along with that the policy also offers complete coverage within 60 to 180 days of pre and post hospitalisation, up to 8% discount on premium renewal, medical expenses cover for all-day-care procedures and emergency air ambulance cover for life-threatening situations. Its comprehensive coverage and competitive rates make this policy a prime health insurance policy for individuals of all ages and gender.

Beyond the listed 5, there are of course several other health care policies that provide for individual needs relating to health. Look around online for different health plans that best suit your need. There are several online portals that let you pick and compare policies side-by-side so that you can find the best policy that suits your needs perfectly.

Cashless Health Insurance: Do's and Don'ts

A cashless health insurance involves a health insurance company directly settling your bills with the healthcare provider, which can either be a hospital or a nursing home. These kinds of insurance policies reduce the burden on the insured individual at the time of hospitalisation. The amount of total expenses that occur in the bill raised by the healthcare provider is directly settled by the cashless health insurance company through a Third-Party Administrator (TPA). The insured person can avail of the cashless facility with proper documentation at the time of admission.

Health insurance companies have tie-ups with various hospitals across the country. One can avail this facility at a hospital that falls under the health insurance company’s Preferred Provider Network. Cashless health insurance comes as a great help during medical emergencies. However, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind while you invest in cashless health insurance policies.

Do’s

•    Know about your policy: Read your policy documents carefully to know what is covered and what isn't. Make a list of healthcare providers that fall under the Preferred Provider Network of your health insurance company. The company’s website must mention all the hospitals under this network.

•    Be prepared: Keep all your health policy documents, IDs cards, etc. ready at a safe place so that they are easily accessible, in case of hospitalisation. You do not want to keep looking for them during the time of emergencies.

•    Maintain a decent contingency fund: Even if you get your cashless insurance approved, hospitals might ask you for a refundable deposit at the time of hospitalisation which can range somewhere between Rs.10000 to Rs.30000. keep in mind that these policies do not cover expenses like registration fees.

•    Fill the form properly: Make sure you fill all the details in your form carefully and mention your cell phone number and pre-authorisation request so that the Third-Party Administrator can contact you immediately.

•    Maintain a folder: During hospitalisation, keep all the medical reports, lab/diagnostics bills, etc. in a folder safely. You will be required to submit the same to the insurer after the claim.

Don’ts                                         

•    Planned hospitalisation: In the case of planned hospitalisation, do not wait for the very last moment. Send the cashless approval request in advance so that everything is ready before time.

•    Keep a copy of all the documents: Do not forget to keep a copy of all set of records, which include medical reports, diagnostic bills, etc. for later references.

•    Do not cover: Do not hide anything related to your health condition. It can hamper with your claim settlement.

•    Keep in mind your approved upper limit: Do not opt for facilities in the hospitals that exceed your approved upper limit.

•    Do not forget to renew your policy every year: This is one of the most important things that one needs to keep in mind when claiming cashless health insurance. Failing to do can terminate your medical insurance policy.