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Why update your family health insurance plan timely ?

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Published on 15th Aug 2020, EST read time 4 Min A family health insurance plan can be said as a type of health insurance plan, which provides cover for more than one member in a family for a fixed sum insured. Such a health insurance policy would provide coverage to two or more members in a family at a single point of time. The premium payment for family health insurance plans is payable in the form of a single annual premium.

Health insurance for family generally covers you, your spouse, and up to 4 dependent children. Moreover, you can also include your extended family members such as your siblings, your in-laws into the health insurance plan by paying an additional premium. Family health insurance plans are cost-effective when compared to purchasing individual health insurance plans for every member of your family.

It is highly recommended that you should understand your requirements before you purchase your health insurance plan. Like you renovate your house periodically, it is equally essential to review and update your health insurance policy too.

Why should you update your Family health insurance policy?

• With the current situation, healthcare services have become highly expensive, and one-time hospitalisation is enough for getting your entire health insurance cover exhausted. So, to be fully prepared for facing any medical emergency and unfortunate circumstances, your health insurance plan needs updation.

• Updating a health insurance plan is a time-taking process. It is better to assess your coverage today and analyse how much it would help support your needs. If you are content with a cover of Rs. 5 lakhs today, you must understand that it may be the cost of present one-day hospitalisation. Moreover, you should not wait to update your plan when you are older, as things would become difficult then.

• To update your health insurance, you would have to fill a new application form, which implies that you would have to undergo medical tests even. However, it is a well- known fact that the older you become, the more prone you are towards illnesses. You would have to disclose your health issues to your insurance provider, which can reduce the possibilities of being covered for some of them.

• You should be comparing your health insurance plan with other plans available in the market. In case you are not obtaining good cover from your current insurance provider, you can look for more options. If you have already bought a high sum insured plan with your present insurance provider, you can opt for a secondary plan with additional coverage to add up to the overall cover.

What are the benefits of a health insurance plan update?

Some of the benefits you can obtain by updating your health insurance plans are -

• Obtain a higher cover - One of the major reasons for the up-gradation of health insurance plans is to obtain a higher coverage. You might feel that healthcareneeds for you and your family are growing; it is then you feel the need to upgrade your health insurance plan. You can easily compare health insurance plans online and obtain a better one.

• Add or remove family members - If you have had a baby recently and want to add the new member into your family health insurance plan. There might be some unfortunate incident, and you might have to remove a deceased member from the family group health insurance plan. In such a scenario, upgrading your health insurance plan is the available option.

• Deductible adjustment - While comparing health insurance plans online, you might find that your deductible has an impact on your health insurance premium. Higher your deductible, lower is your health insurance premium. So, you can easily upgrade your cover adjust your deductible in such a manner that it is suitable for your finances while buying a super top up insurance.

• Addition of riders - If you already have a good base policy, you can consider purchasing riders. Riders are add-on covers that can be included in your base policy by paying an additional premium. By upgrading your base health insurance plan, you can easily choose those riders, which can convert your simple health policy into a comprehensive health cover, offering enhanced benefits.

• Flexibility - You might be feeling stuck with a health insurance policy where the coverage may not be adequate, and there are no additional benefits as well. In such a case, upgrading will give you better coverage and can also customise your health insurance plan according to your requirements. You can choose a sub-limit and design your health plan as per your choice.

How to upgrade your Family health insurance plan?

Some of the most common ways to upgrade your health insurance plan are -

• Upgrade health insurance coverage when needed - This might sound to be easy said than done. But it would be hard to upgrade once you are old as you would have to fill a new insurance form along with the declaration of new diseases due to old age.

• Upgrade your cover now - If you have a lifetime health insurance plan and a healthy family, you can apply for an up-gradation for a higher coverage.

• Top-up cover - This is the right way to upgrade your health insurance plan, but you must understand in detail how these top-up plans work before finalising any such deal.

Conclusion

Hence, the core intent here lies in the fact that your health insurance for family needs to be reviewed periodically despite it being purchased recently or before few years. With time and lifestyles changing so rapidly, your health insurance plan must be perfect for your requirements.

This blog is written by Dr. Kavita Ganesh

Asst. Vice President, Health & Accident Product Underwriting

About The Expert

Dr Kavita Ganesh holds over 15 years of work experience in health insurance industry. She highly recommends buying health insurance for securing finances in case of a medical emergency. Looking at the current pandemic situation, she enforces the idea of having a higher sum insured for covering the entire family.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purposes only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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