1)     What is the right age to buy a Health Insurance Policy ?

Today’s fast paced life leaves us with little time to take care of our health. High stress life, irregular & unhealthy eating habits and no physical exercise make us susceptible to health concerns. People across the age groups run the risk of falling ill at regular intervals. Even though we now have cures for most of the diseases but it has also lead to increasing medical cost year on year. This has direct impact on our savings. Health insurance provides us the required support in these times of need so that an individual can be with his family giving emotional support rather than being concerned of financial burden.

2)     What’s the difference between Health Insurance & Mediclaim ?

Insurance companies offer two types of products under Health Insurance. These are indemnity and benefit products. Indemnity insurance compensates the beneficiary of the policy for their actual economic loss up to the limiting amount of the insurance policy. The insured has to share the necessary proofs to recover his loss. Mediclaim is an example of such product.
Benefit products promises the payment of a lump sum amount in case of triggering of the insured events. Few examples of benefit policies are Critical illness, Persona Accident, Hospital Cash. Insured does not have to submit all the hospitalization bills for claiming under this policy.

3)     Which Policy is better – from General Insurance co, Health Insurance Co. or Life Insurance cos ?

Health Insurance companies operate only in the field of health and travel insurance. This limited scope helps them to build specialization in the field and deliver better service to their customers.
 
4)      I am already covered by my Employer in a Group Mediclaim policy, do I need to buy a separate policy ? In case of a claim will I get paid from both policies ?

— It’s good that your employer covers you under a group mediclaim but generally the SI of such policies is very low. This amount seems to be insufficient in today’s scenario where the cost of treatment is increasing every year.

— Most of the group mediclaim policies has clauses of co-pay and deductibles built in and due to these the insured has to pay from his pocket.

— There are times when you change job and then you get covered under a new policy. As a result of this insured losses on his pre-existing benefit that he has accrued over the period.

— There is always a time gap between joining a new job when the individual and his family is not covered. This makes them susceptible to risk situation

—  The insured might even think of starting his own business and this he and his family will no longer be covered under any insurance policy.
 
5)     What’s the advantage of starting early in health insurance ?

In initial life stages most insurance companies provide coverage to customers without any medical checkups. As the age increases these medical checkup become mandatory and the insurance company has the right to reject the proposal based on the reports of these tests. So it might happen that insured might not get coverage from any insurance companies at latter stages of life.

Secondly if a company issues a policy to an individual then they can never refuse a renewal to the customer (IRDA guideline). So if an insured joins early he will have coverage for lifetime.

Thirdly, if a customer enrolls in a policy early then he will have coverage for all diseases in latter stages of his life when he needs it the most.
 
6)  What are the tax benefits on Health insurance policy ? any additional tax benefits in proposed DTC ?

Individual can claim maximum benefit of Rs 15,000 under sec 80 D and this can go upto Rs 20,000 in case coverage is opted for senior citizens.
 
7) What is Pre existing, Waiting periods and Exclusions in a health Insurance policy ?

Pre-existing are the diseases from which a customer suffers from before taking a policy cover. Most of companies in industry provide coverage to these pre-existing diseases after 4 continuous years of coverage.
Waiting period is also called the cooling period. It is the time after the purchase of policy under which no claim is paid other than in the situation when claim has resulted due to an emergency situation. It varies (from 30 days to 90 days ) from insurer to insurer.
 
8) If I get heart attack, cancer, stroke will I get covered in a health Insurance policy ?

Yes, all these would be covered under health insurance if it has not happened as a result of any pre-existing disease. All the pre-existing diseases would be covered after 4 continuous years of coverage.

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