Best Health Insurance Plans for Family: How to Choose them?

Health Insurance Plans for Family: An Overview

Health insurance plans for families are an important aspect of financial planning. Most people realized the importance of family insurance plans during the Covid-19 pandemic and the demand for family medical insurance has risen tremendously post-pandemic. A family must have a medical insurance family plan to protect themselves from future uncertainties. It helps cover your family member's medical expenses without withdrawing from your savings. A family medical insurance policy gives coverage to all the members of your family against hospital charges and other medical-related expenses. In this article, we are going to learn about health insurance policies for families, the Benefits of health insurance for families, How to choose the best mediclaim policy for family, Best health insurance plans for family. 

What is a health insurance policy?

The rising cost of medical expenses and hospital bills can make you spend most of your life savings. So, having a health insurance policy for the family is a must. A health insurance policy is a contract or agreement where a health insurance company gives assurance to provide compensation to cover your hospital and medical bills. Health Insurance companies cover hospital bills, ambulance charges, maternity benefits, and medical expenses due to illness, surgery, and medical treatment. However, the benefits provided by health insurance plans differ from company to company and plan to plan.  Also read: https://www.indmoney.com/articles/insurance/what-is-health-insurance-types-of-health-insurance-plans

Benefits of having Health Insurance for a Family

• Under one medical insurance plan for family, all the members of the family get the coverage. Moreover, some insurance companies provide coverage to your extended family. 
• The insurance companies charge an affordable premium from you. 
• If your age is below 60 years, you can avail of tax benefits up to Rs. 25000 and up to Rs. 50,000 if your age is above 60 years. Moreover, you can claim a deduction of up to 1 lakh U/S 80 D. 
• You have the flexibility to enhance the sum assured for health insurance coverage. 
• You can get the benefit of cashless hospitalization in a hospital that is tied up with the insurance company and avoids tedious paperwork during hospitalization
   

How to Choose the Best Insurance for Family?

Since there is a wide range of insurance products offered by various insurance companies. Hence, it is obvious for an individual to get overwhelmed. Before buying any insurance, you should make a list of your requirements from the health insurance. Let's say, an individual is buying insurance that covers his entire family and one of his family members is suffering from cardiovascular disease. So, in this case, he must opt for insurance that should be enough to cover the expenses of his family as well as the diseased person. 

Step-by-step guide for choosing the best mediclaim policy for family. 

1. Choose the suitable family health insurance: Family plan medical insurance comes in different types and each type offers a particular type of coverage. There are different policies available that include individual health insurance plans, family floater plans, senior citizen plans, disease-specific plans, and super top-up plans. So, choose the right health insurance plans that suit you. 
2. Choose a sufficient sum insured: Before opting for a health insurance plan make sure that it ensures a sufficient sum for the total numbers in your family. The reason being is the rising medical cost. Also, you can choose a top-up insurance plan to add to the insurance coverage limit. 
3. Ensure that the plan has broad coverage: Before buying the best health insurance plans for family make sure that it offers broad coverage that suits your family's requirements. For example, a couple planning to start their family must choose a medical insurance family plan that has maternity benefits.
4. Look for the limits: Check your health insurance plan if they have any limits on the room rent or the overall coverage. Always choose medical insurance for family plan that has no limits. 
5. Research the hospital network: While buying a health insurance plan for family, you need to check whether the local hospitals around your area are tied up with the insurance company or not. 
6. Look for a plan that does not have any waiting period: Generally, health insurance plans for families cover previously existing diseases after a waiting period ranging from 2 to 4 years. However, the waiting period differs from plan to plan. So, make sure that the health insurance policy does not have any clause to wait for a specified period. 
7. Inspect for the co-payment condition: Some health insurance plans have a condition that the insurance holder has to pay some percentage of the amount and the remaining amount will be paid by the insurance company. For example, if the total insurance claim is 10 lakh, you have to pay 10% of the amount which is 1 lakh and the remaining balance will be paid by the insurance company. 
8. Opt for a medical insurance plan that you can renew for a lifetime: Health insurance that allows you to renew your policy for a lifetime is an essential part to check. Let's say there is a limit to 50 years in your medical insurance plan then you have to buy another medical insurance plan once you pass the 50 years of age. 

Best Health Insurance Plans for Family

A family medical insurance plan prepares you and your family to be financially secure as they cover your hospital charges and all medical-related expenses. Medical emergencies can occur to anyone at any time. So, it is an important aspect of everyone's life. 

Here is a list of the best health insurance plans for family

1. Max Bupa Health Companion Plan
2. Apollo Munich Optima Restore Health
3. Cigna TTK ProHealth Plus
4. Royal Sundaram Health Lifeline Supreme 
5. Aditya Birla Active Assure Diamond plan
6. Digit Family Health Insurance Plan
7. Kotak Family Health Insurance Plan
8. Star Family Health optima Insurance Plan
9. IFFCO-Tokio Health Insurance Plan
10. Care Health Care Insurance Plan

Recognize the Coverage Provided by Family Medical Insurance Policies

How to Make a Claim

• If you have a claim, the first thing you need to do is raise it. This means informing your insurance company about what has happened with as much information as possible.
• Next, you must provide them with all the documents related to the incident or illness. You will also need to give them details about how much money was involved and how long it will take for your medical treatment or other expenses incurred due to this incident/illness to be completed. 

Save Tax

• You can save tax by paying health insurance premiums with money from your HRA.
• If you contribute to any health insurance plan through your HRA, you can claim tax exemption on such contributions up to 1.5 lakhs per annum. 

Am I eligible to buy

You are eligible to buy a health insurance plan if you are an Indian citizen, between the ages of 18 and 60 years, not covered under any other health insurance policy (including those provided by your employer), and haven't been diagnosed with any pre-existing medical conditions. 

5 Best Health Insurance Plans for Family in India for September 2022

Health Insurance Calculator

Health Insurance Calculator is a helpful tool to help you choose your health insurance plan. It covers all the essential aspects of health insurance plans and helps you compare them.

One can use Health Insurance Calculator in two ways:

• To understand how much premium your family would need to pay per month, or year, when they are covered under different health insurance plans.
• Compare different health insurance plans and determine which is best for you based on coverage and price. 

Tax

Government taxes are a part of your income. Your employer deducts and sends your tax to the government. You don't need to submit returns if you've paid taxes for over five years.
How much can I save?

The amount of savings depends on:

• Income level - The higher your income level, the greater your tax saving potential will be.
• Family size - A large family will result in higher medical expenses, which increases their insurance premium payments too 

How many members can be covered?

There are different plans available to cover you and your family. The most common plan is called 'family,' which covers the entire family under one policy. The number of members that can be covered in this type of plan varies from 1-2 to 7 – 8. 

Inclusions, Exclusions:

Policy inclusions and exclusions. Inclusions are health insurance benefits, whereas exclusions aren't. Check them before buying a new plan.

Some of the commonly included benefits under an individual health insurance plan include:

• Preventive care: This includes tests such as pap smear, mammography, and well-child checks for children up to 18 years of age (and in some cases till 21 years)
• Hospitalization: This covers all kinds of hospitalization charges such as room rent and treatment costs; however, there can be different rules for each state
• Ambulance fees: These fees cover ambulance charges when you are admitted to a hospital or require transportation between hospitals

Documents Required While Purchasing

While purchasing health insurance for your family, you will be asked to submit the following documents:

• Identity proof
• Address proof
• Age proof (if not a minor)
• Income proof (for senior citizens)
• Medical history

How to raise a claim

If you need to raise a claim, the most important thing is to ensure that you have all the relevant information about your medical condition. This includes:

• A detailed medical history of your condition or injury.
• A list of any prescription drugs or dietary supplements you frequently take along with the time since your last dose.
• Name and location of any hospitals or clinics you've visited in the past year (including emergency room visits). If there are no recent treatments, mention any other providers who treated you in the previous six months for similar symptoms (e.g., a chiropractor for back discomfort).

To conclude, buying a health insurance plan for family is a must because an emergency can come at any time. Covering you and your family will not only cover your medical expenditures but also bring a sense of relief to you especially if you are a single bread earner of the family. However, choose the best family medical insurance that is ideal to meet your and your family's requirements.