The primary objective of a health insurance policy is to cover the medical needs of the insured, minimizing financial strain, especially in times of emotional distress. However, with rising medical costs due to technological advancements, a policyholder’s existing base health insurance policy may not fully cover all expenses owing to medical inflation, leaving him/her with out-of-pocket expenses.
Emergency funds can certainly address unexpected medical costs. However, for a more practical approach to avoiding financial hardship during medical emergencies, consider investing in additional health insurance coverage. This is especially important if your current plan seems inadequate.
While purchasing a new health insurance policy might be an option, it can be expensive. A more cost-effective solution is a top-up health insurance plan, offering increased coverage at a lower premium. Alternatively, super top-up plans provide another layer of protection. Both options enhance your overall health insurance coverage, minimizing out-of-pocket expenses during medical emergencies.
TOP-UP PLANS
As the name implies, a top-up plan supplements your existing health insurance policy (including employer-provided mediclaim) by offering additional coverage for each medical claim. This acts as a safety net, kicking in once you have exhausted the sum insured of your base policy. Top-up plans have a pre-defined coverage limit per claim, ensuring you don't incur out-of-pocket expenses beyond a certain point. Importantly, there's no overlap of benefits under the top-up plan.
Consider someone with a health insurance policy offering ₹2 lakhs coverage, which they feel is inadequate. To increase their coverage to, say, ₹5 lakhs, they can purchase a top-up plan with ₹3 lakhs coverage.
This story is from the July, 2024 edition of Beyond Market.
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This story is from the July, 2024 edition of Beyond Market.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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