Don’t have a job – these are the health insurance you can buy

Sougato (32-years-old) lives in Nagpur with his wife (28-years-old). He was associated with a private company and both Sougato and his wife were covered by the employer’s health insurance plans. But during the second wave of the COVID-19, Sougato lost his job as well as his employer’s health insurance as he was laid off by the company. Though Sougato lost his job, he still doesn’t want to compromise his and his wife’s health. Sougato wants to purchase a robust health insurance policy for both of them that will give them adequate protection against various diseases including the COVID-19. But Sougato is not sure whether he can purchase a health policy or not as he is unemployed now.

So, here we are going to discuss how to get health insurance without a job.

Nearly, 12.2 crore people in India have lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has increased the country’s unemployment rate. Along with jobs, many people have lost their employer’s health insurance coverage. Do they have any other option to cover themselves as well as their families?

Whether you are unemployed, self-employed, or have lost your job, you have various options to purchase health insurance policies that will give you sufficient coverage and financial protection against healthcare emergencies. Let’s take a look at some companies that offer medical insurance for employed people.

Insurance Companies offered Insurance for Employed Peoples

 How to purchase a health insurance plan without a job?

If you want to purchase a health insurance plan without any job, you must consider the below-mentioned points.

• How much cover do you want?
• What is your budget?
• What are the benefits of the plan?
•  For whom do you want to purchase a health insurance plan (only you or your family too)?
• Have you gone through the features and inclusions of the health insurance policy?
• Have you compared various health insurance plans online?
• Have you gone through customer reviews?
• What are the add-on riders provided by the insurance company?
• Have you checked the grace period and renewal options?

Types of health insurance policies for unemployed people

Individual health policy: An individual health plan offers coverage to a single person. This plan doesn’t cover your family members, rather it covers individuals separately. This plan is apt for those who are looking for individual coverage. An individual whose age is 18-70 years can purchase this type of policy. Some benefits of this plan are,

• Tax Benefits: You can enjoy tax benefits against all your health insurance premiums under section 80D of the Income Tax Act.
• No Claim Bonus: You will get a “no claim bonus” from your insurance company for every claim-free year. So, always stay healthy and wholesome to enjoy the benefits of your health insurance policy.
• Wide range of coverage: An individual health insurance plan welcomes you with adequate coverage against various ailments/diseases.

Family floater health insurance: A family floater health insurance policy covers every member of your family under a single plan. There is only one sum insured for this type of plan and the amount is shared between every insured family member. For a family floater plan, the sum insured floats between family members.

For example, you purchase a floater policy of Rs. 15 lakh for your four family members. If anyone of the family uses the policy up to Rs. 5 lakh, then the remaining Rs. 10 lakh can be claimed by the rest of the members.

These days, many Indian families prefer a floater policy over an individual health policy. A family floater plan is ideal for large families where everyone needs adequate health insurance coverage for their healthcare requirements. The premium of a family floater plan will never burn your pocket as you are paying the premium amount at a time for all members. But don’t include your senior parents under your floater policy. Rather you can cover them with senior citizen health insurance plans. Because these people are more susceptible to various diseases, thus, it will affect your premium.

Senior Citizen Health Insurance: This type of plan is specially designed for senior citizens who are above 60 years. A senior citizen health policy offers coverage for medication expenses, hospitalization due to an accident or illness, pre-and post-hospitalization, and treatment. Some plans also bear the costs of psychiatric and domiciliary hospitalization treatments.

Before purchasing this type of policy, a customer needs to undergo a complete body pre-policy check-up. The maximum entry age limit is 70 years and lifetime renewability.

Critical Illness Insurance: A critical illness policy will offer you coverage against various life-threatening diseases. A critical illness policy is applicable for the below-mentioned diseases.

• Cancer, Stroke, Kidney Failure
• Paralysis, Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery
• First heart attack, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
• Multiple Sclerosis, Aorta Graft Surgery

A critical illness policy is beneficial for middle-class families. This type of plan offers policyholders a pre-decided lump sum amount irrespective of the costs of the treatment once you are diagnosed with the disease. Thus, this policy saves your hard-earned money.

• This policy plan comes with lifetime renewability
• To initiate a claim, you need to survive for 30 days after diagnosis of the disease
• If you have a family history of critical diseases, then you must purchase this type of policy
• The policy terminates once the sum insured is released

If you have lost your job during this deadly COVID-19 pandemic or some other reason, you can still purchase a health insurance policy for yourself and your family members. Don’t get disheartened if you have lost your employer’s health insurance, because there are multiple options of health insurance policy to choose from and secure your and your family’s health.