How to Choose Best Health Insurance in India?

The costs related to medical treatments, health check-ups, medicines, pathology tests, doctor's fees are rising rapidly today. Thus, purchasing an adequate health insurance policy becomes all the more imperative. While there is a very little chance for you to save money on the health care related expenses, there are ample of ways which can help you save money on your health insurance policy premiums. Health insurance in India is not mandatory as of now, but with the ever increasing medical costs, we hope that the penetration of health insurance also increases in India. This will ease your burden of paying in cash while you are in a critical situation like undergoing a major operation, facing any medical emergency or hospitalization. Health insurance makes it feasible for you to avail the cashless facility in the network hospitals, which gives you the required peace of mind and also a sense of financial security in any medical emergencies. Here are 7 easy ways to obtain affordable health insurance plans:

Start Early

It is best advised that you buy a health insurance policy when you are young. Starting early with an investment in a health insurance policy has the following benefits:

1. Lower premiums
2. More coverage
3. Coverage for a long period of time
4. No waiting period (if there are no pre-existing diseases )
5. No medical tests necessary before purchasing health insurance

Choose Your Deductibles Wisely

A health insurance deductible is the fixed amount that you pay for your medical expenses before your insurance company pays for the same when you file for a claim. If you buy a consumer-directed health insurance plan, then you agree to pay a part of your health care costs from out of your pocket. Thus, if you opt for a high deductible amount, then the cost of your health insurance premium reduces.

Difference Between Deductible and Copay

A health insurance deductible is the fixed amount that you agree to pay for your medical costs, whereas copay is the fixed percentage of the claim amount that you choose to pay. While deductible and copay both can help you save money on health insurance, you should choose these options wisely after having a discussion with your insurer. While exploring these terms, you may also come across coinsurance , which refers to compensation for medical expenses via multiple policies. Understanding these subtleties would help you in tweaking your policy and make your health insurance plan more affordable.

Select Your Health Insurance Plan Proactively

Many of you might have been covered by your employer by a group medical policy. While this policy covers you for a few medical emergencies, you should opt for a personal health plan that can cover you for the remaining illnesses. Also, you should choose a plan based on the requirement of your family's medical needs. 
You can choose an affordable family health insurance plan if you wish to cover all the members of your family under one medical policy. The cost of premium for this plan is less but the sum insured (SI) is commonly shared among all the members covered under this policy.
However, if you wish to cover all your family members individually, you can choose an adequate individual health insurance plan. Although this might increase the premium that you have to pay.

Reap the Benefit of Cumulative Bonus

The cumulative bonus is an additional benefit that Bajaj Allianz offers to its customers if they have not made any claim in their policy year. This benefit allows you to opt for a higher SI without the increase in premium amount during the time of annual policy renewal. The cumulative bonus ranges between 5% and 50% increasing with every claim-free policy year.

Compare Various Health Insurance Policies

This is the most important step that you should take before finalizing on buying any health insurance plan. In India, there are numerous health insurance providers, who offer countless affordable health insurance plans. It is always better to compare health insurance plans against their coverages, inclusions, benefits, features and the cost of the premium amount of all these plans (either online or offline) and then make an informed decision to buy the most adequate insurance policy for yourself and your loved ones at an affordable health insurance.

Tax Benefit

In India, buying a health insurance policy allows you to save tax under section 80 D of the Income Tax Act. You can check out the income tax slabs for saving on health insurance in our write-up on our blog. While you are looking for a cheap health insurance plans, remember to check the coverages offered by the health insurance plan that you choose to buy. You should not make a hasty decision and buy a health insurance policy that will not cover you adequately in case of any medical emergencies. We hope that this write-up can help you choose a health insurance plan with maximum coverage at affordable premium rates. You can check out the various health insurance products and their features & coverages offered by Bajaj Allianz on our website.

*Standard T&C Apply

Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms, and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.