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Significance of Health Insurance During COVID-19
Most financial planners recommend that individuals should purchase a health insurance policy for themselves and their family members even before they begin saving money. The need for these policies has grown even more in recent times because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Buying a standard health insurance policy during this time is not enough; having coverage for COVID-19 is also necessary.
Below are some points to keep in mind before buying health insurance during COVID-19:
Option to choose between an individual plan and family floater plan
Before looking at health insurance policies, decide whether you want an individual or a family floater plan. An individual plan provides the sum insured only for the policyholder, so if you wish to cover your family members as well, you must purchase individual plans for each one of them.
On the other hand, if you opt for a family floater plan, you can even get coverage for yourself and your family members under one plan. With this kind of policy, all the family members share the total sum insured. The premium of such policies depends on the age of the oldest family member.
If you plan to take a family floater policy, check with your insurer if they provide restoration benefits that restore the coverage, if it is exhausted during the policy year due to claims.
Revealing relevant details is necessary
Whether you buy a health insurance policy online or offline, do not miss disclosing any pertinent information to the insurer, including any pre-existing illnesses you may have while signing up for the policy.
Specific COVID-19 policies are available
Recently, many insurance companies rolled out new standard health insurance policies, such as the Corona Rakshak and Corona Kavach policies, designed keeping in mind the high treatment costs associated with COVID-19.
The Corona Kavach policy is an indemnity-type policy that covers both families and individuals. It compensates the insured for the hospital bill up to the sum insured limit under specific terms and conditions. On the other hand, the Corona Rakshak policy is a benefit-based plan that covers only individuals. A beneficiary of the Corona Rakshak policy, if hospitalised as per the terms and conditions of the policy, receives 100% of the sum insured.
Furthermore, the Corona Rakshak and Corona Kavach policies have common policy terms and conditions and a fixed minimum and maximum sum insured across insurance companies. This is not the case with other coronavirus policies.
Expect to undergo medical tests
The insurance company may ask you to undergo medical tests before issuing the policy. However, this is subjective. For instance, if the proposer is below 45-50 years old and has no adverse medical history, they may not have to undergo any tests.
Length of the waiting period
During the waiting period of a policy, no claims can be filed against pre-existing illnesses, such as diabetes, blood pressure, and the likes. While the typical waiting period is 30 days, new COVID-19-specific health policies are more lenient with this clause. Know what the waiting period is before you take a policy, so that there are no disputes during claim settlement.
These are some of the many factors, you should consider before buying a health insurance policy during these uncertain times. Given the high transmissibility of the novel coronavirus, make sure you get COVID-19 coverage so that you are prepared if an emergency strikes.
