Types of Health Insurance Plans in India
- Health Insurance in India can be broadly classified into the following types-
- ➤Hospitalization Plans- Hospitalization plans are those health insurance plans that reimburse the hospitalization and medical costs of an individual, subject to the sum insured. Hence, these plans are also known as indemnity plans.
- ➤Family floater Plans- Family health insurance plans cover the entire family in one health insurance plan. It works under the assumption that not all members of a family will suffer from illness at one time. These plans cover hospital-related expenses which can be pre and post hospitalization. Most health insurance companies in India offering family insurance have a wide network of hospitals that help the insured people in times of an emergency.
- ➤Senior Citizens Plans- As the name suggests, senior citizen health insurance plans are for the older people of the family. These plans cover health issues arising during old age. As per IRDAI guidelines, each insurer must provide cover up to age of 65 years.
- ➤Maternity Plans- Maternity health insurance plans provide coverage for maternity and other additional expenses. These policies take care of both pre and post-natal care, and delivery of baby i.e. normal or caesarean deliveries. Just like other health insurance plans, the maternity insurance providers usually have a wide range of network hospitals and also takes care of ambulance expenses.
- ➤Hospital Daily Cash Benefit Plans- Hospital Daily cash benefits is a defined benefit policy that provides a certain sum of money for every day of hospitalization.
- ➤Critical Illness Plans- These plans are benefit-based policies, where a lump sum benefit amount is paid on diagnosis of covered critical illness. These diseases are usually specific, with high severity and low frequency in nature. Hence, the treatment cost is high when compared to day to day medical / treatment need. Some of these illnesses include heart attack, cancer, stroke etc.
- Importance of Health Insurance
- Investing in a health insurance plan is extremely important for multiple reasons. They are-
- ➤ Medical treatments are a fiscal burden on the family
- ➤ Uninsured people may receive less medical care due to lack of funds
- ➤ They are prone to more risks as they do not have access to regular medical checkups.
- ➤ It protects one’s family through unexpected, unforeseen health-related financial situations.
