Tips To Reduce The Cost Of Health Insurance Plan

When a medical emergency strikes, it becomes challenging to deal with such a situation. But if you have health insurance, then everything can be taken care of. It doesn’t cost much to insure yourself and your family with a health cover. Below are some tips you can use to reduce the cost of a health insurance plan.

We Indians do not give much importance to health and keep playing it until an emergency knocks on the door. Health insurance is still considered as the least priority option when it comes to financial planning. This can be proved basis the fact that only one-fifth of the population insured under health insurance, a report by ‘Largest National Survey’ on consumption. Below are some of the reasons why people do not prefer to buy a health insurance plan:

• The low-income groups do not have enough money to spare for health insurance premiums, Due to lack of funds, nearly 79% of Indians in the rural area pay for healthcare expenses from their small savings.
• Due to less knowledge about insurance policy, many people shy away from buying health insurance plans

Protecting the health of you and your family should be a priority. You may not buy insurance cover because your loved ones are in perfect health, but you never know when a medical emergency would come forth. By that time, it would be too late. High medical costs could cause a dent in your pocket significantly. However, a good health insurance plan can help to reduce the financial burden to some extent.

 

Types of health insurance plans:

1. Individual Health Insurance:

You can buy individual health cover but under this type of insurance, you can claim just for one member at a time.

2. Family Health Insurance:

The family floater plan offers financial security to all members of your family, including your parents, spouse, children and even in-laws. Senior Citizen Health Insurance:

The health plan offers cover to individuals that fall in 60-75 years of age group. The benefits of senior citizen health insurance include no medical test, daycare surgeries, cashless hospitalization and pre-existing diseases.

3. Group Health Insurance:

Large and medium enterprises offer group health insurance to employers and their family members for protection against unforeseen medical expenses. However, most companies offer insurance cover just to employees, not covering the parents.

 

Importance Of Health Insurance:

- Keeps Savings Intact:

The cost of medical treatment can result in depletion of your savings. But, a health cover will take care of the expenses – right from pre & post-hospitalization costs, ambulance charges, room rent, medicines, among others. You do not need to use your savings unless it is a reimbursement process.

- Quality treatment:

You can avail the best healthcare service at any network hospital. Under the cashless claim process, the insurance company settles the hospital bills.

- Rising health issues:

With the changes in lifestyle, food habits, work pressure, etc.,  people are becoming more prone to non-communicable and life-threatening diseases such as heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, cancer, among others. Thus, health insurance with a critical illness as a rider option can bring financial relief. 

 

Tips to reduce the cost of health insurance plan

• Buy at an early age:

One of the ways to reduce the health insurance cost is to buy the cover at an early age. When you’re young, you would have to pay a low premium amount. It is also crucial to note that the older you get, the premium amount gets higher. The insurance premium depends on factors like age, gender, the type of coverage, your insurance history, and the amount of insurance cover.

Also, when you’re planning to buy health insurance cover, you can choose to buy a family floater plan against the individual health insurance because it would be affordable. Moreover, you can cover multiple family members at once.

• Get rid of bad habits:

Insurance cost usually goes up if you’re a smoker. This is because smokers are prone to serious illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and cancer. Insurance companies define different insurance rates for individuals who smoke.

• Opt for low coverage:

At the initial stage, you can choose to buy an insurance policy with a small cover. You can purchase health insurance for self wherein the cover is less, and this will allow you to pay less premium too.

Choose the co-payment option:

The co-payment option is wherein you need to pay a portion of medical expenses, and the insurance company pays the rest. However, the co-pay clause varies depending on the terms of the policy. It is beneficial if you’re in good health without any history of illness or pre-existing diseases. The co-pay option can help you save on the policy amount.

• Cumulative bonus:

A cumulative bonus in health insurance allows you to get a discount on the premium amount. You can avail bonus if you’ve not made any claims in the previous years. It will lower the premium amount to some extent.

• Compare & buy:

Before buying a health insurance plan, evaluate the co-pay clause and other factors that could affect the overall cost of insurance cover. Compare various policies online and choose the one that offers the best competitive insurance cover.

• Buy online:

When you buy insurance plan online, you do not have to pay administrative fees or any agent fees, you’re buying it directly from the insurance company. Online purchase of the policy will help to reduce the health insurance cost.

 

Better to be safe than sorry!

You should purchase health insurance to keep yourself and your loved ones safe against any medical emergencies. It will help you lead a stress-free life as you’re aware that the insurance company will incur all your hospital expenses. Medical emergencies are unpredictable, and health insurance helps you face such situations with ease.