The saying “health is wealth” makes a lot of sense in this day and age. When you fall sick, you not only feel lousy, but you also end up spending a bit thanks to rising costs of medical treatments. In Kashmir, due to its harsh weather conditions, these expenses can add up over time and make quite a dent in the pocket, especially if you have multiple family members to take care of. A health insurance plan like ACKO medical insurance policy can help protect your health and wealth. Here are some mediclaim options that Kashmiris should consider for themselves and their family.
Family floater plan
This plan is a one-stop shop for all the healthcare needs of your entire family. It provides coverage across all age groups present in your family, right from newborns to the elderly. It is not only one of the more affordable mediclaim options for your entire family, but it can be customised to fit the medical needs of each member as well.
Benefits
- Affordable: If you have a big family, buying medical insurance for every member of the family can set you back a bit. By opting for a family floater plan, you are essentially giving the protection of an individual health insurance plan to all the members of your family, but for a lower premium.
- Sum insured: With an individual health insurance plan, the sum insured can only be used by the policyholder. But with a family floater plan, every individual gets to use the sum insured without any limit. If you have a family member who needs more care than the others, they will be able to use the entire sum insured if need be.
- Convenient: You will have to manage only one premium payment for the entire year if you opt for a family floater plan as opposed to multiple premiums and paperwork for individual plans for each and every member of your family.
- New members: You are allowed to add your spouse, children, parents, and even parents-in-law, in some cases, to this plan. If you want to add any of them to your plan as a new member, you can do so by paying an additional premium.
- Tax benefits: Family floater plans offer tax benefits to the policyholder. Under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, you get a tax benefit on health insurance premiums. Depending on the age of the person insured, the tax benefit can be claimed up to INR 1,00,000.
Senior citizen health insurance plan
If you have elderly parents and in-laws who are 60 years of age and above, a senior citizen health insurance plan will be the right choice for them at that stage of life. Senior citizen health insurance plans have some significant differences from an individual health insurance plan. This is because they are customised to fit the growing medical needs of the elderly as they age.
Benefits
- Waiting period: Pre-existing conditions have become a given as we age. The elderly are more vulnerable to the effects of these diseases. Most health insurance companies have a waiting period of 1 to 3 years for individual health insurance policies when it comes to pre-existing conditions. But with senior citizen plans, this waiting period may be of a shorter duration or may be completely done away with by some insurers.
- Critical illnesses: A senior citizen mediclaim policy can offer more comprehensive protection against critical illnesses such as cancer and kidney disease when compared to an individual health insurance plan.
- Medical examination: Some health insurance companies will ask for a mandatory medical examination to assess your health as a prerequisite to issuing the policy. Some senior citizen health insurance plans waive this test for the elderly and enrol them directly. This is very convenient, especially for NRIs (non-resident Indians).
- Lifelong renewability: Senior health insurance can be renewed year on year. The coverage doesn’t lapse after the elderly hit a certain age.
Children’s health insurance plan
As with the elderly, children are also vulnerable to a whole host of diseases in their formative years. Some children are more sickly than others and would require medical assistance frequently. Children’s health insurance would be the best bet to deal with their medical expenses. Children who are 3 months old are eligible for the policy. Eligibility can go up to 25 years of age. If you have children who are a little older, you can also consider adding accidental insurance for an extra layer of protection.
A good health insurance policy can go a long way towards protecting your family. Make sure to do enough research and compare multiple policies to weigh their pros and cons. Look for the claims settlement ratio, network hospital list, waiting period, sublimits, etc., before making a final choice.
