The cost of healthcare is rising exponentially. To safeguard your family and yourself against the multiple illnesses and avail the best medical treatments without depleting all your savings, buying health insurance plans has become necessary. A medical insurance plan can help you mitigate those unexpected medical costs with ease and provide you with peace of mind during such a crisis.

However, with many health insurance plans available in the market, it is quite complicated to select one suitable for you and your family’s needs. Below we have provided a list of five medical insurance plans in India and their benefits.

Types of health insurance plans

1. Individual Health Insurance 

An individual health insurance plan is specifically designed for individuals only.  It covers the hospitalization costs of the policyholder based on the premium paid. However, you can also add your parents, spouse, or children by paying extra expenses. The premium amount is usually based on the sum insured, individual’s age, medical history, etc.

Benefits:

• An individual plan is best suited for individuals with high health risks.
• An individual enjoys the benefits of sum assured on an individual basis. It means that if you have bought a plan of Rs. 1 lakh for you and your spouse, you both can claim this amount, individually.

2. Family Floater Health Insurance

As the name suggests, family floater medical policy provides coverage to the entire family, including spouse, children, parents, and other dependent members. The premium amount is usually based on the age of the eldest family member.

This plan is suitable for those who have small kids or elderly family members with low health risks. However, if a family member with severe illnesses is covered under this policy, they would utilize a considerable amount of sum assured, leaving a lesser amount for others.

Benefits:

• This plan enables you to cover your family members under a single policy and reduces the hassle of managing 4-5 insurance plans.
• It is a cheaper option as compared to the senior citizen plan.

3. Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness medical insurance plan provides coverage against life-threatening diseases, such as kidney ailments, cancer, stroke, paralysis, and so on. Since such diseases are on the rise, covering yourself against them is crucial, as treating them can be a costly and timely affair. In addition to the hospitalization costs, it also covers other expenses related to doctor visits, chemotherapy, etc. Furthermore, the illnesses to be covered under the policy are specified during the purchase of the policy.

Benefits

• On the detection of the illness, the insurer pays a pre-decided amount in a lump sum, which is in addition to any other health insurance policy that you may already have.
• This policy is best for those who are sole bread earners of the family. If such a person gets severely ill, then the sum assured can be claimed and used for the treatment, keeping the income untouched.

4. Senior Citizen Plans

A senior citizen health insurance plan provides coverage to people aged over 60 years. Like all other plans, the policyholder pays a premium amount to the insurer for various medical expenses, such as pre and post hospitalization, doctor visits, daycare, etc. However, the premium paid for this plan is much higher than medical policies meant for younger people.

Benefits:

• Elderly people are more prone to serious illnesses, and the cost of their treatment is too expensive. Therefore, this policy can help your elderly parents in their post-retirement years.
• You can also avail tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, on the premium paid.

5. Group Health Insurance

A group medical insurance plan provides coverage to a group of people who work under the same organization, such as company employees or members. The coverage is limited to a certain sum assured and can be extended to other family members by paying extra premium.

Benefits:

• Nowadays, every employee needs protection against unexpected financial crises. But sometimes, they don’t have enough funds to buy an insurance policy for themselves and their family. Thus, in such situations, this policy can help them cover those urgent expenses.
• This policy also helps employers keep their employees feeling secure and retain the organization’s talent.

Wrapping up 

Now that you know the several types of health insurance policies, you can easily choose the one best for you and your family. However, make sure to conduct extensive research on various plans before zeroing down on one.