Benefits of Renewing Your Family Health Insurance Policy

The COVID pandemic has been a threatening force since 2020 and as per reports, a third wave is imminent. Prior to this, an entire family getting hospitalized was a rare phenomenon. In the present situation, however, we’ve seen countless cases of families catching the infection simultaneously and being hospitalized for days on end. 

In situations like these, where more than one person in the same family requires medical assistance, family health insurance policies can be of huge help. 

So if you haven’t bought a family health insurance plan yet, we strongly suggest you buy one. And if you already have insurance, make sure you’ve renewed your plan. Here’s how this can benefit you:

• Coverage for all family members in a single plan
• Hassle-free hospitalization expense cover
• Easy addition of new family members
• Affordable premium
• Additional benefits
• Discounts
• Tax benefits

Features of a Family Health Insurance Policy

A family health insurance is a type of health insurance with covers the entire family in a single insurance plan. It can be further customized as per your family’s needs. Given the spike in medical costs in today’s times, a family health insurance policy becomes a huge necessity for ensuring the safety of your entire family.  Keeping the needs of your family in mind, one must take an economically intelligent choice while choosing the appropriate policy for their family. The most common features of such family health insurance policies in the market are as under:

1. Eligibility: Most family health insurance plans cover family members from the age of 3 months and if specified, for other dependent up to 23 years of age. Specific plans are also available for senior citizens and people with a history of illness.

2. Basic health coverage: Like any other health insurance plan, a family plan would cover the cost of vaccinations and health check-ups, pre and post hospitalisation care up to a specified limit, hospitalisation expenses etc, up to a specified amount. 

3. Age of renewing the policy: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the central regulator of the insurance sector in India, has made it mandatory for health insurance providers to provide policy cover till the age of 65. But many health insurance providers provide the cover even for a lifetime. 

4. Inclusions and Exclusions: Different policy providers include and exclude different ranges of situations when a claim shall be accepted or not. The best family plans offer coverage of day-care procedures, surgeries, room rent, health check-ups and vaccination expenses, pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization medical expenses. However, pregnancy and childbirth-related complications, domiciliary treatment expenses and pre-existing diseases are some of the common exclusions in most health insurance policies.

5. Claim Settlement: The claim settlement process is followed by all health insurance companies as directed by the insurance regulator. The policyholder can make a claim basis a planned or unplanned hospitalization. The claim settlement procedure regarding different kinds of hospitalization shall be described in the insurance, so you must spend time and read the fine print of the insurance contract.

Benefits of Renewing your family health insurance policy

One of the biggest benefits of renewing your family health insurance policy is that it is best suited for bigger families that comprise children, grandparents etc. Having family health insurance saves you from the trouble of making different claims for different policyholders in the same family in a situation when two or more members need urgent medical care. Here is a list of major benefits of renewing your family health insurance policy:

1. All family members covered in a single plan: Choosing a health insurance plan best suited for your needs is an extremely difficult task. Health insurance plans for the entire family and saves you from that hassle as you have to apply your brains into choosing only one policy that would be sufficient in taking care of the medical needs of your entire family. Moreover, you don’t have to pay separate premiums for all family members. 

2. Hassle-free Hospitalization Expense cover: In a situation where two or more family members are hospitalized at the same time, cashless treatment in a network hospital becomes easier. You go through a lot of stress when a beloved member of your family falls sick and is hospitalized and wouldn’t want the extra stress of arranging funds for hospital procedures at the last minute. Cashless hospitalization at network hospitals offers peace of mind to the insured.

3. Easy addition of new family members: There is no requirement of subscribing to a new health insurance plan in case you want to change the number of people insured in that health plan. New members can be added very easily to a family health insurance plan. In case the eldest member dies or is no longer eligible for coverage, then the other insured members would continue to get health insurance coverage benefits. This makes the plan extremely flexible to accommodate the changing conditions and circumstances of a family.

4. Affordable Premium: Separate premium for every individual family member is not required in family health insurance policies. All members can be covered in a single plan at an affordable premium.

5. Additional Benefits: A family health protector plan can offer to have add-on covers for critical illness if members of your family have a history of critical or terminal illnesses like heart disease, cancer, renal failure, organ transplant, limb paralysis, etc. Though a few of these add-on benefits could be subject to a waiting period clause, having these additional benefits in your plan makes it more dynamic and safer.

6. Discounts: Under health insurance plans for family, you can avail discounts and other perks in form of incentives offered by the policy. There is also the no claims bonus or NCB that enhances your cover with each year that you don’t claim.

7. Tax Benefits: Under section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act, the health insurance premium is given a tax exemption of Rs.25,000. If you are paying the health insurance premium for your family and parents, then it is eligible for additional tax exemption of Rs.50,000 assuming that your parents are senior citizens.

Summing it all up

With medical costs skyrocketing, ensuring the best healthcare services for your family is a tough and challenging task. Yet, it is inevitable. A family health care insurance plan is a smart way to safeguard your savings during a medical emergency. Family plans save you from the cumbersome formalities of having several health policies for your family members. With attractive features like affordable premium, easy hospitalisation expense cover, add-ons and tax benefits, family health insurance plans prove to be economical. Popular policy providers offer comprehensive plans for you and your family under one single umbrella.

One must not skip renewing their family health insurance policy as he or she would miss out on several benefits such policies offer and the health of their loved ones would be at stake.  As explained vividly above, a family health insurance policy is both easier to manage and affordable as compared to individual health insurance policies. Most of the plans available in the policy market are customizable as per the needs of you and your family. You can choose the sum assured, add-ons you want in your policy and customize the plan as per your exact needs and requirement. A family health insurance policy is ideal for people who are married with children or have dependents senior citizens to support at home.