Types of Health Insurance

Different Health Insurance Plans and the Suitable Beneficiaries

In the realm of healthcare, the medical treatment costs are increasing rapidly. As a result, awareness about the importance of health insurance is now higher than ever Health insurance, also called medical insurance, helps pay for medical costs that come from illness, injury, or accidents. These medical costs include the cost of hospitalisation, both pre- and post-hospitalisation, medications, implants, specialist fees, and surgery. By opting for health insurance with comprehensive coverage, you can ease the financial burden of medical expenses.

What are the Types of Health Insurance Plans?

There are multiple types of Health Insurance Plans, such as Individual Health Insurance, Family Floater, health Insurance, Senior Citizen Health Insurance, Critical Illness Plan, Top-Up Plan, Group Medical Insurance, Personal Accident Cover, Maternity Health Insurance Plan, Disease-Specific Plan, Mediclaim Insurance, and Hospital Cash. All the mentioned health insurance types are specially designed for particular categories of customers who are seeking comprehensive health insurance plans.

Types of Health Insurance with Their Descriptions

A Detailed Overview of the Different Types of Health Insurance Plans

Individual Health Insurance

Individual health insurance, also referred to as personal medical insurance, is a type of health policy that provides medical coverage to individuals on an individual sum insured basis. It is among the most common health insurance plans in India and covers hospitalisation expenses incurred after admission. By paying an additional premium, you can include your spouse, children, and parents as beneficiaries under the same policy.

Family Floater Health Insurance

Family floater insurance provides coverage for the entire family under a single plan, where all members share the insured sum. The biggest advantage of  family health insurance is that you don’t need to manage multiple policies, making it both convenient and cost-effective.

Senior Citizen Health Insurance

Among the various types of health insurance policies, a senior citizen health insurance policy is the ideal choice for adults over 60. It covers medical treatment costs for senior citizens, including preventive health check-ups, cashless hospitalisation, pre-existing disease coverage, and more.

Critical Illness Plan

Critical illness cover offers financial protection to the insured by providing coverage against life-threatening health conditions such as kidney failure, cancer, heart attack, and multiple sclerosis. Critical illness insurance plans differ in the number of conditions covered based on the insurer and are independent of the pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses.

Top-Up Plan

A top-up health insurance plan is a backup to your primary health insurance plan. It is ideal for individuals looking to replenish the sum insured to a specific amount above the basic plan. You may have to pay a fixed deductible; the limit is crossed, and the top-up is activated.

Group Medical Insurance

A group medical insurance policy is a health plan for people such as bank customers, employees, employers, society members, etc. Group health insurance provides comprehensive benefits during an emergency, such as cashless facilities, ambulance costs, hospitalisation expense coverage, and more.

Personal Accident Cover

Over the years, road accidents have increased, and as a result, people have lost their lives. Treatment expenses can be an additional burden; hence, personal accident insurance coverage is vital in providing financial aid to the affected or their family. It also covers education and orphan expenses if required. Personal accident coverage has the following benefits: assistance service, temporary total disablement, accident in-patient hospitalisation with personal accident plans, and worldwide emergency.

Maternity Health Insurance Plan

Maternity health insurance is a health policy that provides extensive coverage for all pregnancy-related medical expenses, including hospitalisation costs, delivery (normal and C-sec), pre- and post-natal care, medical tests, and newborn baby expenses. It offers financial stability and helps women prepare to raise their babies.

Disease-Specific

A disease-specific plan covers the insured under one specific disease/illness. Also known as a niche plan, this policy will either provide a pre-decided amount or the medical expenses during the treatment.

Mediclaim Insurance Plan

A mediclaim insurance plan covers treatment expenses for the policyholder when admitted to a hospital for at least a day (24 hours). They are called in-patients, and mediclaim insurance covers all costs incurred due to accidents or illnesses.

Hospital Cash

Hospital Cash Insurance, or hospicash, is an insurance policy that offers a pre-decided sum insured for each day of hospitalisation, i.e., more than 24 hours. It is a fixed allowance paid to the insured to cover the miscellaneous costs during the period of hospitalisation.

Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIPs)

Unit-Linked Insurance Plan, or ULIP, is a comprehensive insurance scheme that provides an advantageous combination of investment opportunities to meet your long-term objectives and a life coverage component to safeguard the financial well-being of your family in the event of an unprecedented situation.

Indemnity Health Insurance

Indemnity-based health insurance plans are medical insurance policies in which the policyholder is reimbursed for the hospitalisation expenses that arise during the treatment up to the maximum coverage amount specified in the policy.

Know the Importance of Health Insurance

Health risks and uncertainties are inherent aspects of life. Although illness is unplanned, individuals can prepare for unexpected medical expenses. Purchasing Health Insurance is an effective strategy for financial preparedness against unforeseen health risks. 

A good health insurance plan helps pay for medical expenses like costs before and after a hospital stay. It can cover doctor fees, medical tests, ambulance charges, certain diseases, accident treatments, maternity care, organ transplants, and more.

When you pay a small premium, you get access to a large sum insured that can help cover costs during medical emergencies.

What benefits do Health Insurance policies offer?

Health insurance is especially important when it provides broad coverage and meets the needs of you and your family. Make sure you understand the benefits and features of the plans that work best for you.

Here are the benefits of purchasing a Health Insurance policy:

1. Offers financial stability

Medical emergencies can occur unexpectedly and cause significant financial strain. Covering treatment costs may require selling assets or possessions. A medical insurance plan offers financial protection and helps preserve long-term savings.fv

2. Protects your loved ones 

Take time to review your needs and choose a health plan that offers the most benefits. For instance, if your parents are older, they might be more at risk for illnesses and need enough health insurance coverage.

3. Gives access to the best medical treatment

When money is tight, people sometimes settle for less effective medical care. With good health insurance, you can pick the best doctor, hospital, and treatment for your needs.

When you get a Health Insurance policy, the following aspects are covered.  

• Pre- and Post-hospitalisation costs  
• Room rent charges
• Ambulance charges  
• Consultation fees  
• Coverage for day care procedures  
• Coverage for modern treatments
• Coverage for maternity and delivery charges
• Vaccination charges for newborns
• Annual and preventive health check-ups and many more.
   

4. Protects savings

Medical expenses have skyrocketed recently. Unfortunately, many people spend their life savings in case of a medical emergency.

Health insurance in India plays a vital role in protecting your savings, allowing you to allocate funds for future needs such as purchasing a home or supporting your child's education. 

5. It helps manage treatment expenses for lifestyle disorders  

Lifestyle diseases are becoming more common. Today, many young people and adults face issues like diabetes, obesity, breathing problems, and heart disease. These problems often result from sitting too much, stress, pollution, unhealthy eating, and spending too much time on gadgets.

Because of this, it is important to protect your health with good health insurance. Choosing a plan that covers diagnostic tests can help find these illnesses early and make paying medical bills easier, so you have one less thing to worry about.

Joining wellness programs from different insurers can help you prevent or manage long-term health problems.

6. Tax benefits

Planning for the future should fit your current budget. Since health insurance is important, the government of India offers tax deductions when you buy it. For more details, see Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

7. Helps when your existing insurance coverage is inadequate

Some of them offer only essential protection. Your insurance may be insufficient if multiple family members get hospitalised at the same time. In that case, you can increase your Sum Insured by opting for Top-up plans. This brings additional coverage and ensures a significant part of your medical needs is financially covered.

If a higher coverage plan is too expensive right now, don’t worry. You can start with a basic plan and add more coverage as your budget allows.

What does the health insurance list?

Health insurance lists its inclusions, exclusions and other details. Generally, a health insurance plan includes covered expenses like hospitalisation, pre- and post-hospitalisation, daycare treatments, consultations, diagnostic tests, medications, ambulance charges, maternity benefits, organ donor expenses, and preventive health check-ups. While you buy an insurance policy offline or online, don't forget to check its exclusions and other policy details.

Why should you get a Health Insurance policy when you’re young?

Buying health insurance at a young age comes with several benefits.

• Health insurance premiums depend on your current age. If you get insured while you are young, you can pay a lower premium. 
• Most insurance policies cover pre-existing conditions after a waiting period. When you are young and healthy, you are less likely to have illnesses, so you get better coverage that can help you later if you become sick.
• Signing up for health insurance early gives you broad coverage and helps you manage your finances. You can choose a plan that offers lifetime renewals and full coverage, giving you more security both while working and after you retire.

Taking a personal insurance policy for your health will help offer financial security against medical expenses, like hospitalisation, ambulance expenses, surgeries, medications, and other healthcare services.

It is not about how many health insurance companies in India have plans; it is about how well you are choosing your health insurance plan that suits you, analysing all the factors needed to be considered. As per the number of network hospitals, Star Health is the number 1 health insurance company in India.

11 Things to Consider While Choosing the Right Type of Health Insurance Plan

There are many factors to consider while choosing a health insurance plan. Here are the things to consider while choosing a type of health insurance.

1. Coverage

You must consider your health insurance coverage because it directly impacts how much financial protection you would have during medical emergencies or illnesses.

2. Age

You must consider your age while choosing a health plan, as age impacts health insurance premiums and policy options.

3. Current Health Condition

Current health conditions are to be considered when choosing a health insurance plan, as they directly impact your need for coverage and the terms of the policy.

4. Pick a Plan as Per Your Health Needs

In case you want to buy medical coverage for yourself, you must select an individual health insurance plan. However, if you are seeking to cover your entire family, go for a family floater plan instead of buying individual policies for each family member. Family floater plans are more budget-friendly than individual plans as they cover all family members on a floater sum insured basis. Similarly, senior citizens aged 60+ years must purchase a senior citizen medical insurance plan.

5. Sum Insured

The sum insured must be considered when picking the right plan for yourself because it directly impacts your financial safety against unexpected healthcare costs.

6. Medical History of Family Members

You should consider the medical history of your family members, as it helps determine an individual's potential risk for certain health conditions.

7. Waiting Period

You should check the waiting periods before deciding on the health insurance plan because they determine when you can access full coverage for different health needs, including those you might already have.

8. Deductibles

You should see the deductibles at the time of choosing a health policy for yourself. This is due to the fact that the deductibles directly impact both the premium cost and the out-of-pocket expenses you'll incur.

9. Exclusions

You must check the exclusions in health insurance plans before selecting the policy you want to purchase. This is because they define what the health insurance company will not pay for.

10. Co-payments

You should see the deductibles when choosing a health policy because they impact both premium costs and potential out-of-pocket expenses.

11. Network Hospitals

You should also use the network hospitals when choosing a health policy, because they offer a more convenient and financially beneficial experience.

Final Thoughts

There are several types of Health Insurance policies in India. You can choose among them based on your needs. It is always advisable to read the policy terms and conditions of your health plan to understand the inclusions and exclusions.

Star Health Insurance offers a varied range of affordable Health Insurance plans that suit your budget and requirements. These plans cover the medical costs of the majority of health ailments and diseases.