Health Insurance is undoubtedly gaining traction in India gradually since more and more people are becoming aware of its potential benefits and money-saving effects. Health insurance plans not only act as a safety cushion in any serious illness but also help you receive the best treatment without charging anything for it.
So, what are the types of private health insurance? It mainly comprises different types of private health insurance plans suitable and directed for different types of individuals, ranging from Individual and family health insurance to Critical illness health insurance.
While health insurance in itself could be of various types, in terms of deliverance, it is delivered by either a government public entity or a private company. Thus, the health insurance provided by a private company is termed as a private health insurance.
Different Types of Private Health Insurance Policies
As discussed above, private health insurance is a policy that an individual purchases from a private insurance company. The company contracts to give a specific sum for medical coverage. However, private health insurance can be of various types depending on cost or coverage.
Health Insurance provided by Employers
When a person decides to work for an employer, the organization provides health insurance coverage that helps take care of the individual in case of illness. Employers typically tend to offer various types of private health insurance plans known as Group Insurance. This helps the employer cover several employees in a single policy, thus saving cost and also providing effective cover to individuals involved.
These private health insurance plans can offer different coverage types depending on the company's financial stature. For instance, many big companies extend coverage to employees' families and may include hospitalization expenses, ward expenses, and even maternity benefits.
Other than that, employers provide health insurance coverage to employees in their tax returns. Section 80D of the Income Tax Act makes individuals eligible to avail of tax benefits in lieu of insurance premiums even paid by the employer. However, it is important to remember that not all types of policies come with tax benefits, and clauses that enable portability within the policy may make the policy tax benefit redundant.
Individual Health Insurance Plans Purchased from a Private Company
Another kind of private health insurance plan that individuals very frequently take up is an Individual Health insurance plan purchased from a private company. As the name signifies, these types of private health insurance plans are made for solo individuals, which means any injury or illness occurring to the individual in the future will be covered. These plans often have all the coverage in a regular or comprehensive plan, such as Hospital Coverage, Surgical Cost Coverage, or Expenses incurred after getting discharged from the hospital.
Unlike Insurance availed through an employer, individuals opting for an Individual Health insurance plan need to pay their premiums and undergo medical checkups to get insured and get the required coverage. Since these health insurance policies are mainly made for individuals, they have features specifically designed for individuals; however, there can be some policies with features to add dependent people and family members, which can, however, end up costing more.
Comparing Two Key Types of Private Health Insurance
As discussed earlier, health insurance plans can have a wide range of coverage and periods. However, two types of private health insurance plans stand out and should be discussed separately altogether.
Short Term Health Insurance
In many instances, individuals do not want to spend too much on a policy and opt for a Short term health insurance plan. These kinds of health insurance offer a limited amount of coverage for a very limited period. This is one of the main reasons these plans end up cheap and can appeal to individuals with a budget constraint.
These plans are designed in such a way that they cover small illnesses but do not cover long-term or chronic illnesses. Thus, individuals at a young age with sporadic illnesses can opt to go for these policies while also saving money in the long run.
The coverage provided in these plans does include prescriptions provided by the doctors, although has caps on the prescriptions; other than that they also cover the costs of visits to doctors but do not contain benefits like maternity care and mental health coverage.
These plans are often beneficial for people willing to switch or take a break from their jobs. Thus in this way, they can get the coverage for the period they will remain unemployed. The period stipulated in these policies can range from 6 months to a year, with limited options for extension to up to 3 years.
Disease-Specific Health Insurance Plans
After the advent of Covid-19, in which people found themselves hospitalized and paying unexpected bills, these private health insurance plans have become fashionable. What these policies do is they cover only a few types of illnesses or a group of illnesses. This essentially means that people living in specific areas where there is a prevalence of some disease can opt for these insurance policies and also not spend too much.
For instance, various insurance agencies offer policies catering to Covid-19 with coverage ranges of 50,000 Rs to 5 Lakhs. Furthermore, they also come with an add-on option where individuals can add their respective family members to the plan after paying a certain amount.
Personal Accident Health Insurance Plans
These are another type of health insurance plan where a person can avail insurance benefits arising from any injury that occurred by accident which sometimes can also render individuals disabled. This type of policy also helps individuals by providing on-road coverage built into their Car Insurance plan, which also provides individuals with an appropriate sum for disability caused by injury.
Some of the plans available in the market also provide benefits, including education coverage for children, orphan benefits, and financial assistance to the dependent spouse. Furthermore, they can also be tailored by individuals to be more beneficial by adding clauses like worldwide emergency coverage, which covers accidents that occur anywhere in the world, and hospitalization benefits which will cover all the costs incurred in the hospital.
Other than that some plans also have clauses that can cover any financial or loan obligations on individuals if an individual has incurred a permanent disability or even death.
Choosing the Right Types of Private Health Insurance for You
Before going to purchase a private health insurance policy it is very necessary to keep a few things in mind and have the necessary information which is required.
Checking Network Hospitals: Network hospitals are the hospitals that provide cashless treatment to any individual insured through an insurance policy. Although people can still avail of benefits in any hospital, they have to pay the full expenses, which the insurance company reimburses. As described, this process can be tiring and cumbersome; also, sometimes, people suffering from chronic ailments do not necessarily have the whole amount to be paid in hospitals, which can be life-threatening.
This is why ensuring that the policy has appropriate coverage of network hospitals and within those that are in your area is important. This will ensure that you do not get restricted financially or through red tape during your treatment.
Understanding Coverage Options: This step is also crucial before purchasing any health insurance policy, as various intricacies are usually hidden within the policy documents without your knowledge. For instance, when buying a health insurance plan, ensure that your policy covers things like hospitalization expenses, post-hospitalization coverage, maternity benefits if you have a spouse, and ambulance coverage.
Assessing Policy Exclusions: Assessing policy exclusions is also necessary, which means that some clauses could make some of the ailments or conditions ineligible for claiming health insurance. So checking and reviewing these intricacies is essential in this case so that you can understand which conditions are not covered in the policy and take necessary steps instead of that.
Conclusion
As discussed above it is not very difficult to avail of a private health insurance policy and thus, having full knowledge about various types of private health insurance not only helps build your foundation for better family planning but also helps reduce unannounced problems.
