Here are 7 changes to consider in your Health Insurance Plan if you are married

When a person is single, responsibilities are usually limited to themselves and their parents. Once married, the responsibilities increase to include the spouse, their children and sometimes the relative of the spouse may also require your support.

After getting married, people make several changes to their life. However, there is one important thing that often gets overlooked; and that is health insurance. Married couples should consider making changes in their health insurance plans appropriately. Here are some tips that married people might find useful when planning their health insurance.

There are three ways in which you can bring changes to your health insurance plan post-marriage:

1. Buy a family floater plan or make an addition to your existing family floater plan. For example, if you get married and already have a family health insurance plan, you could add your wife to the plan. However, some health insurance policies limit the number of members in one family floater plan. In such cases, it is advisable to buy a family plan that allows more number of members.
2. Purchase a dedicated plan for your spouse only. This can be an individual health insurance plan or a plan that is suitable to your spouse’s health needs. If your spouse is young and healthy, the premium for such a policyholder is much lower in comparison with that of older people.
3. Porting health insurance policies of one another is also a possibility. Here, either the husband or the wife can port their existing family policy to the other. This decision can be taken based on the benefits of both the health insurance policies,, and you can port into the one that offers more benefits at a lower cost.

Why does require a change in your health insurance planning?

There are several reasons why such a change may be required. Here are a few of them.

You might want to change your insurance plan

When a person is single, individual health insurance plans are usually sufficient. Many people opt for family floater plans before marriage and include their parents in the same plan. Once a person gets married and if they want to include their spouse in the same plan, they might have to change their plan to a family floater plan. 

Married couples must take into consideration their existing health conditions when buying a new health insurance plan or porting or converting an existing health insurance plan. For example, if either of the two have conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, or any other. Accordingly, the couple should opt to go for a family floater or two separate health insurance plans. Couples should also opt for family floater plans that provide child benefits, maternity coverage, and newborn cover in the plan.

Rethink the coverage offered

Both you and your spouse will have different healthcare needs and hence require an insurance plan that offers coverage for those diseases. For example, if your spouse is diabetic, you should look for a health insurance plan that offers diabetes coverage as an add-on benefit. If you are thinking of having children, you should look for a health insurance plan that offers maternity coverage for not just one child, but the second child, too. 

Even if you had a family plan before marriage, chances are that it was purchased many years ago and the extent of the coverage may no longer be useful to you or your family. Hence, you might want to consider looking for a plan with better coverage options.

Maternity coverage

Maternity insurance is specially designed to provide coverage for maternity expenses. Maternity insurance is normally not a standalone insurance plan. It is a part of a comprehensive health insurance plan. Maternity allowance often has to be bought as an add-on as it is not a part of a plan unless opted for. The importance of a maternity plan in the modern world cannot be overemphasized.

Medical inflation is skyrocketing, and as a result, maternity expenses have also increased manifold. Medical costs normally increase with the size and reputation of the hospital. Maternity insurance plan can help meet the high costs of maternity hospitalization.  Health insurance with maternity benefits offers coverage for maternity as well as the newborn baby. Buying maternity insurance is the best way to insure a newborn baby as these plans provide coverage to newborn babies from day one. 

Some of the top maternity plans available in India

Care Joy Maternity Health Insurance

• Coverage for newborn baby
• Policy tenure: 3 years
• Coverage Rs.3 lakh – Rs.5 lakh
• Sum insured increase for every claim-free year
• Entry age: 18 years to 45 years
• New born baby cover: 1 day 
• Waiting period: 9 months

HDFC Ergo Family Easy Health

• Coverage for up to 2 deliveries
• Newborn baby coverage
• Vaccination expenses included
• Rs.30,000 for normal delivery and Rs.50,000 for C-section
• Waiting period: 3 years

Bharti AXA Smart Super Health Insurance with Maternity Cover

• Coverage up to 2 deliveries
• 2 terminations covered
• Waiting period: 9 months
• Available with family floater 3-year plan
• Coverage for the newborn baby for the first 90 days

Universal Sompo Health Insurance with Maternity

• Coverage up to 2 deliveries
• 2 terminations covered
• Waiting period: 3 years

Does your spouse have a hospital preference?

If your spouse has a preferred hospital for getting treatments, it is important that your family floater plan includes the particular hospital in the policy. Check the network of authorized hospitals in advance and ensure that the hospital is available in the list. This is important especially for women who might prefer certain specific physicians or gynaecologists. 

Tax Benefits on insurance

You must be aware that health insurance offers tax benefits. But did you know that you could save more tax if both the husband and wife have health insurance policies. Let’s understand how married couples can avail of tax benefits with the help of their health insurance plans.

Under Section 80D, an individual or a HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) can avail of tax deductions. The premium paid towards a health insurance policy can be deducted from the total taxable income. Tax deductions under different situations according to age of the family members:

• Individual or all family members under 60 years: Up to Rs.25,000 can be deducted from the taxable income. This Rs.25,000 should have been paid as premium or towards preventive health check-up.
• Individual, all family members and parents under 60 years: Up to Rs.50,000 can be deducted from the taxable income. (Rs.25,000 towards self and family insurance + Rs.25,000 towards parents insurance)
• If the eldest member in the family is under 60 years and parents are above 60 years: Up to Rs.75,000 can be deducted from the taxable income. (Rs.25,000 towards self and family insurance + Rs.50,000 towards parents insurance)
• If the eldest member in the family is over 60 years and parents are also availing health insurance: Up to Rs.100,000 can be deducted from the taxable income. (Rs.50,000 towards self and family insurance + Rs.50,000 towards parents insurance)

Summing it all up

Married couples have more responsibilities compared to single people. The spouse’s healthcare is also one of the shared responsibilities. Moreover, if the married couples have children or are planning to have children then they have to factor in these maternity and child healthcare needs and health insurance also. We hope the above points have helped you understand the necessity of making changes to your health insurance plan after getting married and the key points to consider. Want to know more? Reach out to IIFL and get all your insurance-related queries answered.