What is Health Insurance?

 

What is Health Insurance?

Health Insurance is a contract between the policyholder and the insurer where the health insurance company provides financial coverage to the insured up to the sum insured limit. It offers medical coverage for healthcare expenses incurred during an emergency or planned hospitalization. It also provides tax savings on the premium paid to the insurance company under Section 80D of the Income Tax, 1961.

Health Insurance at a Glance

Categories	Specifications
Sum Insured	₹50,000 to up to ₹6 crore
Maternity Cover	Available
Pre & Post-hospitalization Expenses	Covered
OPD Cover	Available
ICU Charges	Covered
Free Health Check-ups	Available
Pre-existing Diseases	Covered*
Ambulance Cover	Available
Day Care Procedures	Covered
Tax Benefits	Up to ₹75,000 per financial year

*Pre-existing diseases are covered after the waiting period is over.

Benefits of Buying Health Insurance Plans Online

Buying a health insurance policy online comes with several benefits. Take a look at them below:

• Easier to Compare Plans – It is easier to compare health insurance plans from different insurers online at websites like Policybazaar.com to make an informed decision.
• More Convenient – It is more convenient to buy the policy online as you do not have to visit the branch of the insurance company or take an appointment to meet an insurance agent.

• Online Discounts – It allows you to avail discount on premiums for buying the policy online.
• Lower Premiums – Health plans are available for a lower premium online as insurance companies save a lot on operational costs.
• Minimal Paperwork – The process of buying a health insurance policy online involves minimum to zero paperwork.
• Policy Available 24x7 – A health insurance policy can be purchased online any time of the day, even on public holidays, which is not possible in offline buying.
• Digital Payment Options – It allows you to avoid cash payments and use digital payments methods to pay the premium online safely.
• Instant Policy Purchase – A health insurance policy is issued instantly when purchased online unlike offline buying.
• Time-saving – It saves you a lot of time as the policy is issued within a few minutes of buying.

Health Insurance buying checklist

Waiting Period

You should buy a health insurance policy with a minimal waiting period. The lower is the waiting period, the sooner you will be able to avail coverage. You should go through the policy terms & conditions carefully and check the waiting period before buying a policy. Read more

Co-payment

You should opt for a health insurance plan with no co-payment. Without co-payment, you will not have to make any out-of-pocket expenses for each claim. You can check the policy documents to know about any applicable co-payment before buying the policy. Read more

Preventive Health Check-up

You must choose a health insurance plan that offers free preventive health check-up facilities every year. With this benefit, you don’t need to pay for annual medical examinations. You can check the policy benefits while buying to know about preventive health check-up facilities. Read more

Grace Period

You should buy a health insurance policy that offers the maximum grace period. A bigger grace period gives you more time to renew your policy after the due date has passed. You can read the policy wordings to find the exact grace period available under the policy. Read more

Restore Benefits

You should purchase a health insurance plan that offers 100% restore benefits. With restore benefit, your sum insured amount will be fully restored as soon as it gets exhausted after a claim. You can check the policy documents to know if the restore benefit is available Read more

No Claim Bonus

You should pick a health insurance plan with the maximum No Claim Bonus/Cumulative Bonus for every claim-free year. The higher is your No Claim Bonus, the higher will be the increase in your sum insured. You must read the policy documents before buying to know about NCB Read more

Sub-limits

You should buy a health insurance plan that comes with no sub-limits. Without sub-limits, you will be free to raise a claim up to the sum insured amount. You can go through the policy wordings to find out about any applicable sub-limits under the health plan. Read more

Network Hospitals

You should choose a health insurance company with the largest network of hospitals in India. The more is the number of network hospitals, the more likely you are to avail cashless treatment in your locality. You can check the network hospitals’ list before buying a health policy Read more

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Top Reasons to Buy a Health Insurance Plan

Medical inflation is increasing every day making treatments expensive. If you get hospitalized for a critical illness or lifestyle disease, you may end up losing all your savings. The only way to afford quality medical treatment during a health emergency is by buying a health insurance policy. Take a look at some of the top reasons to buy a health insurance plan below:

• Beat Medical Inflation - A health insurance policy can help you pay your medical bills, including pre and post-hospitalization expenses, today as well as in future despite the rising medical costs.
• Afford Quality Medical Treatment - It helps you to afford the best quality medical treatment and care so that you can focus only on getting cured.

• Fight Lifestyle Diseases - It allows you to pay for the long-term treatment of lifestyle diseases like cancer, heart attack, etc. that have been on the rise with the changing lifestyles.
• Protect Your Savings - It helps you to protect your hard-earned savings by covering your medical expenses so that you can avail the required treatment without any financial worries.
• Avail Cashless Hospitalization Facility - It allows you to obtain a cashless hospitalization facility at any of the network hospitals of your insurance provider by raising a cashless claim.
• Get Tax Benefits - It enables you to save tax on the health insurance premium that you’ve paid under section 80D of the Income Tax Act for better financial planning.
• Ensure Peace of Mind - It allows you to obtain medical treatment with peace of mind as you do not have to worry about paying the hefty hospital bills.

Choose Health Insurance Coverage of Your Choice

Key Benefits of Health Insurance Plans in India

Health insurance plans offer a variety of health benefits to the insured depending on the plan. Following are the key benefits of buying a health insurance plan in India:

• Hospitalization Expenses - A health insurance plan covers the medical expenses incurred on getting admitted to a hospital for more than 24 hours. It includes room rent, doctor’s fee, medicine cost, diagnostic test fees, etc.
• Pre & Post Hospitalization Expenses - It covers the medical expenses that you may have incurred on an illness before getting hospitalized as well as follow-up treatment expenses incurred after getting discharged. The pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization expenses are covered up to a fixed number of days as specified in the policy document.

• ICU Charges - A health insurance plan also covers the cost of availing treatment in an ICU  during hospitalization.
• Ambulance Cost - It covers the cost of ambulance services availed to reach the nearest hospital during a medical emergency.
• Cashless Treatments - All health insurance providers in India offer cashless treatment facilities at their network hospitals. You do not have to worry about arranging money to pay the hospital bills if you get admitted to a network hospital as it will be settled by your insurer under cashless claims.
• Day Care Procedures - It also covers the cost of availing day care treatment that requires hospitalization for less than 24 hours.
• Pre-existing Diseases - The best health insurance policy also provides coverage for pre-existing diseases after you have completed the waiting period. Usually, pre-existing diseases are covered after a waiting period of 2 to 4 years.
• AYUSH Treatment - It covers the cost of availing medical treatment through AYUSH school of medicines that includes Ayurveda, Unani, Homeopathy, Siddha and Yoga.
• Medical Check-ups - Most health insurance companies in india offer free preventive health check-up facilities to the insured at regular intervals depending on the policy terms and conditions.

Choose health plans for every age group

Plans starting @

₹ 193/month*

PS - The starting price is indicative and may vary basis additional details.

Best Health Insurance Plans in India

We at Policybazaar can help you to buy the best health insurance plan that suits your health requirements. Below is the list of health insurance plans offered by the top insurance companies in India. You can do an online comparison and find the best health plan for yourself.