The ever-growing health insurance cost can adversely impact the savings of many families, hence, health insurance serves to ensure financial safety against an eventuality. Despite this fact, only 20% of the Indian population is insured, while 86% of the rural population doesn’t realize its importance and 82% still remains uninsured in the urban area.

Though lately, people have started recognizing the mere importance of health insurance and consider buying it for themselves and their families. Nevertheless, many people still don’t understand their health insurance policy thoroughly. If you are looking for adequate health insurance, there are certain factors to be double-checked before buying. We term them as health insurance feature. Here we go:

1. The Coverage Features

With technology advancement and due to sheer competition, every health insurers comes with a wide gamut of coverage options to attract the customer. The different composition of coverage may confuse you. Hence, find out the coverage you would actually require. After that, compare the various health insurance plans based on your requirement. There are various online aggregator websites which offer you insurance suggestions as per your requirement. You can check health insurance at Policybazaar, which is one of the leading insurance aggregators in India.Don’t randomly pick additional covers just for the sake of increasing the policy benefits or the one that you don’t require. You may end up paying an additional premium. Select a plan, which offers sufficient coverage, while at the same time comes with a lower premium.

2. Reputation of the Insurer

Buying a health insurance policy from a reputed insurance provider is always recommended. There shouldn’t be any insolvency record. An insurer with the average financial record may not be capable of paying your claims. So, look for the claim settlement ratio and opt the one with a higher CSR record.

3. Limit and Sub-limit Clause

Sublimit is a cap imposed by the insurers on certain hospitalisation expenses. Look for a health insurance plan that has a minimum sub-limit. As per the sub-limit clause, the insurer will pay up to a fixed limit for that particular head. Above that limit, the expenses will be on you. Hospital room rent, ICU rent, doctor’s fees are some of the most usually introduced sub-limits, which needs to double-check while buying. In addition, health insurance comes with a limitation of claiming the policy up to certain days within which the claim will not be entertained. Look for the policy with minimum waiting period limitation.

4. Policy with Restore Benefit

As we mentioned above, the growing completion has compelled the insured to come up with innovative products with advanced features. One such feature is the automatic restoration of health insurance sum insured. This is a buffer to offer you the complete protection I case of a serious condition when you exhaust the basic policy sum insured. With this cover, the sum insured gets recharged automatically. Usually, this cover can be availed as an add-on, however, some policies come with this as an in-built feature.  For instance, health insurance ofRs7lakh cover with aRs7 lakh restore benefit, almost covers you for Rs 14 lakh cover for critical illness at no additional cost.

5. Co-payment Clause

Co-payment is a common feature of health insurance especially in the senior citizen plans, where the insured has to pay a pre-defined percentage of the total claim. The rest of the claim amount is paid by the insurance provider. While comparing the plans, you may find a particular plan comparatively cheap but it may restrict its coverage by applying co-payment. So, be careful while coming across a plan with co-payment.

6. Plan with Day-care Procedures

Initially, a daycare procedure is not covered as an in-built feature or can be availed as an add-on. Moreover, a minimum of 24 hours of hospitalisation is a must to avail health insurance benefits.  But, thanks to technological advancement, many illnesses are diagnosed without a hospitalisation. Considering this, health insurers have started introducing a daycare procedure to enhance their features. Better for you as well to choose a plan with a maximum number of the daycare facility.

7. Tied-up Hospitals’ List

The list of network hospitals is an important aspect to consider while buying health insurance. As per the IRDA guidelines on health insurance, the insured can avail cashless services at network hospitals only. That’s why the insurer’s list of hospitals must include the options that are in your vicinity so that in case of an emergency, you can easily approach them and avail a cashless benefit.

8. Pre and Post Hospitalization Benefit

Health insurance covers the medical expenses incurred before and after hospitalization as well. This is called Pre and Post Hospitalisation Expense Cover. At times, some part of the treatment needs to be carried out even after discharge from the hospital. Expenses such as regular follow-up visits with the attending doctor, medicines to be taken or other required investigation expenses fall under the post-hospitalisation category, which is covered by your policy. Make sure you opt for a policy that comes with maximum days of pre and post hospitalisation cover.

9. No Claim Bonus

If you find your policy a bit expensive, you can rest assured of availing additional discount. Health insurers offer No Clam Bonus for not claiming your insurance. Hence, for not lodging any claim you can earn a maximum of NCB bonus of up to 50%. This can be availed at the time of renewal, either as an increase in the sum insured or discount on the premium. Go with a company that comes with such a feature or offers maximum NCB.

10. Maternity Benefits

There is no denying that pregnancy comes with a cost and considering the rising healthcare cost, maternity cover is something you should pay attention. Just for a gist, a few health insurance policies come with maternity cover, otherwise, you can buy it as an add-on cover. While buying a maternity cover always check for the waiting period to be served. Consider the pan with a minimum waiting period. Secondly, some plans come with sub-limit, which may limit the basic coverage. So, be careful. Also, consider the exclusions of the policy or if the policy offers outpatient expense cover. By factoring these things at the time of buying maternity health insurance, you can plan for a financially secured pregnancy.

Free Medical-Checkup

Health insurance that entitles you with free health check-up is always preferable. The check-up has no bearing on the premium while renewing the policy.

11. Is PortingFeasible?

Every health insurer is bound to provide you with a portability feature, according to which you can switch the existing plan if not satisfied with the services or the sum insured becomes insufficient. Even you can retain he earned NCB bonus and transfer it to the new insurer. Moreover, no waiting period would be served as you already have served. However, before porting, you should compare the terms and conditions and coverage offered and find out if porting is viable. Access the feasibility only if you are getting extensive coverage at a most affordable cost.

12. The ideal broker

Although online insurance is on vogue, a huge portion of the Indian population still prefer to buy insurance offline or through a broker. Brokers play an important role in aiding you with the right or best health insurance policy. They are the one who briefs the policy, advise you on various insurance quotes as per your requirement, do all the documentation and so on. Given that, a broker should be someone whom you can rely upon. Make sure the one you are associated with belongs to a reputed insurance background and provides you with the true information only.

Wrapping it up!

Buying health insurance can be an easy victory only if you follow the right way of buying. In the advent of the internet, most people prefer buying insurance online which is the safest way. Apart from the plans offered by the private sector insurance providers, you can also consider health insurance that comes under government schemes.  However, online insurance is only successful if you compare the plans on various grounds and in this regard, the aforementioned factors play a vital role in abetting you with the best health insurance in India.