Steps to Buy Best Health Insurance in India Online

Studies reveal that barely 18% of the vast Indian population is only covered by health insurance, clearly revealing negligence. However, there have been several incentives and schemes initiated by the government to ensure improvement. It has gained popularity since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the rising popularity of digitisation in almost every aspect, buying health insurance online has also gained impetus in recent times. It has its own perks too. You need to follow certain simple steps to enjoy buying the best health insurance in India online.

Crucial steps to buy the best health insurance in India online

1. Clarify your requirements:
   
   This is the most crucial initial step, be it an individual or family floater plan. You need to critically analyse your requirements. After careful online research and comparison among different plans, you can choose the most befitting one that offers wide coverage against multiple ailments and benefits like transportation, hospitalisation, critical illness care, etc.
   
   In case you are purchasing a family floater plan, ensure that the plan meets the needs of every member covered by the plan. The digital platform offers a wide scope to compare several plans with just a few clicks within a short span.
2. Budget planning:
   
   Considering your requirements and income, you have to calculate a practical budget for your health plan. It must offer enough coverage to suit your needs. Otherwise               , the entire purpose of buying a health plan goes in vain.
   
   Therefore, while buying a healthcare plan, consider the broader picture considering the policy coverage as well as the premiums. The digital platform offers an online premium calculator for your benefit.
3. Inclusion of preferred hospitals and doctors:
   
   While purchasing a health plan, you must essentially consider the list of network hospitals covered by the plan. It must include your preferred hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare facilities, preferably near your vicinity. This is crucial, especially in case of emergencies. In case you visit a hospital or doctor outside the plan coverage, your financial load may be heightened, and so the reimbursement claims.
4. Consider illnesses covered under the plan:
   
   It may seem to be a far-fetched imagination, but our sedentary lifestyle is the biggest contributor to several ailments like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, etc. before buying, you must ensure that the concerned health plan possesses befitting provisions to cover these sorts of ailments.

5. Choose the insurer carefully:
   
   While buying the best health insurance in India, you have to ensure that the concerned insurance provider is reliable, possesses a good reputation in the market, and is preferred by the users. To determine this, you can consider the claim settlement ratio, list of network hospitals, ease of claim, and read customer reviews online before proceeding.
6. Consider the type of coverage:
   
   Under this category, you have three options:
   1. Individual health plan, covering each member individually, maintaining a fixed coverage amount for each
   2. Family floater health plan, covering all the family members (as per the policy terms), allowing each of them to avail of the insurance benefits depending on their needs.
   3. A group health plan is suitable for business houses to incorporate their employees. You can buy this on your own unless you are a part of a group or a company that opts for this plan for you.
7. Choosing the correct plan:
   
   There are three types of plans in this respect:
   1. Basic indemnity health insurance plans, including basic health expenses like pre-and-post-hospitalization costs, ambulance costs, etc. This is termed as mediclaim plans by the industry as the coverage is basic and standardized.
   2. Comprehensive health plans, comparatively more extensive plans with add-on facilities like accidental coverage and additional features like no co-payment, and no sub-limit for room rent coverage, etc. These are also indemnity plans.
   3. Top-up or Super Top-up plans provide a deductible value that is mutually agreed upon by both parties. This is generally a fixed amount that the insured needs to pay by themself or from a different base indemnity plan before filing a claim with a top-up or a super top-up plan. These types of plans offer enhanced coverage at lower premiums.
   4. Fixed Benefit plans cover only certain specific conditions rather than regular expenses during hospital cases. These are daily cash plans, critical illness plans, or accidental benefit plans wherein a lump sum amount is paid when the insured event occurs, irrespective of the amount spent on hospitalization.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it becomes evident that buying the best health insurance in India is not a big deal. All you need to keep your eyes and ears open for proper practical assessment and assessment of the situation to proceed accordingly.

FAQs

1.  What happens if the primary insured person covered by a family floater plan dies?

Under such circumstances, if the person dies after hospitalization, then the insurer will reimburse all the relevant expenses. You need to fill out a request form to make the necessary changes to the policy term to make the necessary changes to calculate the premium based on the age of the succeeding eldest member.

2. How to increase the insured sum on an already existing health plan?

You can increase the insurance amount during renewal for an already existing plan.

3. Is a cashless card available for purchasing an online health plan?

Yes, online purchase also ensures the issuance and availability of a cashless card.