Introduction:
India boasts no shortage of health insurance providers, with Care Health Insurance among them. Formerly Religare Health Insurance, this insurer offers various plans suitable for people of all ages – you can purchase online via your home computer or offline by visiting one of its branches or an insurance agent.
However, before purchasing a Care health insurance policy, you must assess its relevance. Only some plans fit every person, so you must determine their ability to meet your health requirements effectively.
The following are 10 things you need to remember when purchasing Care health insurance:
1. Eligibility Criteria:
All health insurance policies include eligibility criteria that define who may apply. Care Health Insurance has specific plans for families, senior citizens, heart patients and diabetic people – not everyone can use all available health Care plans (for instance, someone in their 20s wouldn’t qualify to join the Care Senior plan!). For example, a family cannot enrol their teenager into a Care Senior plan for seniors alone).
Every health plan also comes with minimum and maximum entry age requirements that applicants must fulfil to purchase the program; for instance, your 26-year-old dependent would not qualify under Care Advantage plans as its maximum age threshold for children is 24.
Before purchasing a Health Care insurance plan, verify its eligibility criteria and age requirements.
2. Sum Insured:
Before purchasing a Care health insurance policy, you must determine your coverage amount (also referred to as the sum insured). Your sum insured represents the maximum payout from your health insurer in case of an insurance claim; choose one that covers all your annual medical expenses without exceeding your premium budget. As one age, one’s health needs become increasingly prevalent and costly. As age progresses, so too should premiums. A rule-of-thumb would suggest opting for higher sum insured amounts than prior.
After setting your coverage amount, you must find plans with equivalent or greater sum insureds – for instance, if you need Rs 75 Lakh health coverage, more than purchasing Care Advantage is required as its sum insured of 1 Crore.
3. Extent of Coverage:
The extent of Coverage Aside from considering the total sum insured, you must also carefully consider the level of Coverage that you require from your health insurance policy. Assess your healthcare needs to decide the benefits that make sense under health insurance plans such as Joy maternity policy if desired.
4. Health Screen for Pre-Policy Insurance Plans:
Some Care health insurance plans may require applicants to undergo a pre-policy health exam before purchasing their policy, such as Enhance top-up plans above 50 years. Such applicants would likely be subject to such pre-policy health exams before the purchase of this insurance plan.
5. Waiting Period:
Every health insurance plan comes with waiting periods. These provide an initial cooling-off period before additional Coverage becomes available to a policyholder, like Care family health insurance with its initial 30-day and preexisting 4-year waiting periods, respectively, meaning claims under your Care policy can be filed 30 days from the policy start date, while preexisting disease-related claims needing attention may need 4 years’ Coverage before being submitted for adjudication.
As such, before buying an individual Care health insurance plan, you must check its waiting period.
6. Exclusions:
Exclusions Each health insurance plan contains exclusions. Before purchasing, it’s wise to familiarise yourself with its exclusions so you know precisely what Coverage exists; alternatively, this may help determine if critical coverage gaps exist, such as OPD treatment expenses not being included – for example, the Care Freedom plan does not offer this cover, in this instance; therefore if this Coverage is necessary, it would require purchasing another policy with OPD coverage in its exclusions list.
7. Maternity Cover:
Within your health insurance plan, Maternity Cover provides peace of mind by covering medical costs related to pregnancy treatment and those for birthing and caring for a newborn baby. Care Health Insurance’s Joy plan explicitly offers this Coverage, so if this Coverage is essential to you when starting a family. If you are looking for Coverage this way under another program, then Joy should be included in it!
As soon as you decide to begin a family, enrolling in a maternity plan should be one of your priorities since most programs come with at least nine-month waiting periods depending on which variant of Joy Plan you select – meaning now could be the time to invest in one! So, if your goal is having children soon, then now could be an opportune moment to secure Coverage through insurance plans for mother and baby.
8. Co-Payment:
Before purchasing a Care health insurance policy, be aware of any applicable co-payment. A co-payment refers to a set amount you owe upon raising a claim under your policy; policyholders aged 60 or above will have a 20% co-payment on claims submitted through family plans such as Care Family Health Plans.
Prioritising affordability when selecting your health plan can save you from becoming financially strapped if payments for co-payment amounts go beyond your means. Failure to plan will only leave you bankrupt.
9. No Claim Bonus (NCB):
NCB refers to a health insurance provider offering discounts if no claims were submitted during your previous policy renewal premium period. NCB discounts range from 10-50 per cent with consecutive years without claims qualifying you for deals of this sort; due to this potential saving factor, it’s wise to ensure any new Care insurance plan you purchase offers this type of reduction before purchasing one.
10. Cashless Hospitalization:
Cashless hospitalisation capabilities are one key feature to look out for before purchasing health insurance plans. Insurance companies generally only provide this facility if they have an extensive network of hospitals which have signed contracts with them; Care Health Insurance boasts more than 7800 network hospitals nationwide – though you should check to see if any are located nearby your city or location.
Conclusion:
Health insurance is critical to safeguard yourself and those close to you, including yourself and your family. When purchasing an individual plan from Care Health, ensure it covers everything listed here so there won’t be any nasty surprises later and that its policy coverage meets your requirements.