New age medical plans with Tata AIG Health Insurance

Vinod Dutta wanted to buy a health insurance plan. The decision was a sudden one and was prompted by his mother’s recent heart ailments. Mrs Dutta, a retired schoolteacher, had suffered a heart attack and spent a whole month in hospital thereafter. The doctors, though confident of her current health improvements, could not assure that a relapse wouldn’t occur in the future. Vinod only had a group insurance plan and he had to pay the majority of the medical bills from his pocket, for which he had to borrow money. He did not want to be in such a financially challenging situation ever again and so he promptly bought a Tata AIG Health Insurance plan for his whole family.

If you too are looking to buy a health plan, either for yourself or your whole family, consider the health plans from Tata AIG General Insurance.

Buying health insurance

Gone are the days when health insurance was a luxury. Today, it has become a necessity. From the old to the young, everyone is more susceptible to fall prey to the deadly diseases and seeking the best possible medical care is the only option after that. However, the medical expenses are rising every day and it has reached a point where being able to afford a good hospital without the support of a good health insurance plan has become practically impossible. Keeping this in mind, Tata AIG Health Insurance has launched some of the most efficient health plans for you to choose from.

The best health plans from Tata AIG

Let us take a look at the awesome, new age medical plans from Tata AIG Health Insurance Plan, one of the premier general insurance companies of India.

1. Tata AIG MediPrime Plan: This is a truly comprehensive plan from Tata AIG. The plan covers hospitalisation charges, including day care expenses and ICU charges. You can avail cashless facilities at a large number of hospitals around India. The minimum entry age is 18 years and the maximum entry age is 65 years. Lifelong renewals are available with this plan.
2. Wellsurance Family Policy: This is a very good health plan from Tata AIG, especially if you are looking to insure your whole family. Cashless hospitalisation facilities are available with this plan. You will also get added benefits such as hospital cash, ambulance allowance and ICU cost reimbursements under this plan. A child as young as three months of age can be enrolled into this plan, as can a senior citizen under the age of 65 years.
3. MediPlus Health Plan: Another very good health insurance plan from Tata AIG, this plan covers the pre hospitalisation and post hospitalisation costs, along with the actual hospitalisation expenses. You also get provisions for organ donation procedures under this plan. This is a good option if you are looking for a single plan to cover yourself, your spouse, your children and your parents.

Why Tata AIG?

There are many health insurance providers in India among which Tata AIG is one of the best. It is a joint venture between the hugely respected and reputed Tata Group and the American International Group (AIG). Tata AIG General Insurance Company is a very good and trusted name in the Indian insurance industry. The company has a high claim settlement ratio and a long list of satisfied customers. The company understands the value and importance of good health and so has introduced some of the best health plans. These plans are tailor made for your various needs and you can choose a plan according to your requirements. The plans are new age and refined and cater to the modern needs. The plans are also available online and that makes it very simple for you to buy them.

In conclusion

So as you can clearly see from the points mentioned above, the health plans from Tata AIG Insurance are among the best we have today. And since health insurance is mandatory, make a wise choice and buy the best possible insurance policies from a reputed insurer like Tata AIG. This will not only prove to be a smart move, it will also keep you and all your loved ones safe and protected, and in the unfortunate case of a medical emergency, it will give you the freedom to choose the best possible medical facility.  

Source: New age medical plans withTata AIG Health Insurance 

Is critical illness insurance a good idea?

Rajesh was a healthy 30-year-old lawyer. However, since there was a history of cancer in his family, he was very cautious while buying insurance. He had seen how his father’s treatment had left the family almost penniless and so he wanted to ensure the same thing didn’t happen if he was diagnosed with the illness. So he bought  illness insurance plan and secured his finances as well his family’s well being. 

A critical health plan is a very good type of insurance that provides financial assistance if the policyholder is diagnosed with a crucial illness. Take a look at this article to understand how a illness plan works and why you must opt for it.

What is a critical illness plan?                        

A critical illness plan is a kind of insurance where the policyholder is paid a lump sum amount of money if he or she is diagnosed with a crucial illness. The insurer provides a list of illnesses classified as illnesses when the policy is being bought. If the policyholder contracts any of the diseases during the policy period, he or she receives the monetary benefit and is free to use the sum in any way he or she wishes.

crucial ill health insurance is available as standalone plans as well riders along with health insurance plans and life insurance plans.

Benefits:

Let us now take a quick look at the benefits of a illness plan.

·         Provides financial support: This is the biggest advantage of buying a critical ill health plan. Getting diagnosed with a major illness like a stroke or a heart attack may be distressing, but dealing with the finances at such a time becomes all the more difficult. Healthcare costs are very high these days and without proper insurance, you can’t even think about getting treated at a good medical facility. And since the treatment of the crucial ill health cost a lot of money, a regular health plan is never enough. The sum assured from a crucial illness plan proves to be very handy at such a time.

·         Income substitute: As mentioned, the insurance provider doesn’t check how you are spending the sum assured you received from the critical health plan. So instead of just paying the hospital bills, you can also use the money to act as an income substitute if your illness leaves you temporarily or permanently unemployed.

·         Clear dues: You can use the money from your health plan to clear dues such as home loans, credit card bills, etc so that if something were to happen to you in the aftermath of the diagnosis, your family members would not be harassed by the lenders. This is yet another helpful advantage of a health plan.

·         Continue with your savings: If you have a health plan in place, you don't have to dip into your savings or prematurely break any investments to pay your medical bills. You can safely continue with your savings and deal with the medical bills with the sum assured you receive from the critical illness policy.

Points to remember before buying a critical illness plan

There are a few important points that you must remember before you buy a health insurance plan. They are:

1.     There is a waiting period associated with the illness plans. Different insurers have different specifications, but you have to wait for about three months from the time you buy the policy to make a claim. You cannot get the benefit if you already have the illness when you buy the plan.

2.     There is a difference between a standalone health plan and a plan rider. In a standalone critical illness policy, if a claim is made, the sum assured is paid out and the policy is terminated. In the case of a rider, the critical illness cover is paid but the principal health or life insurance policy continues to remain functional.

The bottom line:

It indeed is a very good idea to go for a critical health plan. With such a plan you are assured of a solid financial backup when you need it the most. So what are you waiting for? Buy a critical health plan today if you haven’t done so already and secure your health as well as the financial well being of your family.

Source:  Is critical illness insurance a good idea?

5 Essential Tips to buy the Best Critical Illness Policy

Health Insurance plans give you protection from unexpected financial expenditure that arises due to sudden illness, accidents and other health related issues. The coverage and policy premiums vary based on different parameters like age, gender, family medical history, basic health and habits of the policy holder and locational or occupational hazards, if any. Health benefits could be extended over the basic health insurance plan by certain add-on in excess to the base policy as required by individual need and preference.

Health Insurance Policies Types

In India, health insurance is broadly classified under 3 types:

·         Critical illness policy -- This is different from general health insurance policy since only certain pre-specified illnesses are covered under critical illness policy rather than more general health and accident coverage. Moreover, the lump sum amount is paid to carry out treatment once the diagnosis is done decisively. General health insurance does not include certain diseases and to overcome this shortcoming, there is the need to buy the critical illness cover policy. This is an add-on or rider on top of your general health insurance policy. Some of the most common critical illnesses that are covered under this plan are heart attack, stroke, cancer, blindness, terminal illness, paralysis, organ transplant etc.

·         Hospitalization plans – This plan covers the medical and hospitalization costs of the insured. Coverage is up to the sum insured. Based on the person(s) insured under the policy, the plan can extend to single individual, all individuals in the family separately or as a family floater. For example, for a family of 4 people, there can be 4 individual health insurance policies of 1 lakh each. Or there can be a family insurance plan of 4 lakhs where each member is insured up to 1 lakh individually. They might have a family floater plan of 4 lakhs where any and all members can use any amount not exceeding a total of 4 lakhs for the entire family.

·         Daily Cash benefit plan for hospitalization – Here the insured will receive an agreed up on daily payment irrespective of the actual cost incurred during the time the person is hospitalized. If the daily pay-out is more than the actual cost of hospitalization, that works as an added income or benefit for the insured.

While shopping for a critical illness policy you need to look for the following:

·         Current Financial situation – Do a homework regarding your financial position. If you can afford to face the financial challenges in case there is a critical illness, then you can go for a smaller coverage under critical illness plan. Also, keep in mind that health related expenditure are always on an upward move, so health insurance plan should be done accordingly.

·         Current health situation– Your present health condition will matter when it comes to shop for critical illness policy.  Obesity, unhealthy habits of smoking and drinking pose higher risk and exposure to certain critical illnesses in future. And these add to the cost of premium exactly the same way it does for general health insurance. Taking critical cover plan early in life when you are healthy is a better idea.

·         Current Family Set Up – If there are senior citizens or aging parents in your family, it is imperative to get covered under Critical illness policy since there is higher chance that health emergency can occur and put a financial burden on you.

·         An add-on that will complement the general health Insurance policy – Your Critical illness policy should be complementing the general health Insurance plan that you already have so that when both combined, they optimise the coverage. That becomes most cost effective.

·         Go for a more comprehensive coverage – Shop for the different Critical Illness plans offered by different insurers. The list of covered illnesses varies. Make sure the plan offers the coverage for most critical illnesses. Also the terms and conditions are important to understand the inclusions and exclusion.

·         Look for Claim Settlement Ratio and No Claim Bonus – The higher the percentage of the claims settlement by the insurer, the better is your chance of getting reimbursed for your illness cover. Moreover, on a particular year, if there is no claim, then some insurers reward you with certain percent of premium. While looking for a policy, look for these from the insurer. 

S   Source: 5 Essential Tips to buy the Best Critical Illness Policy

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Why Critical Illness is needed with Your Basic Term insurance?

Do you know the benefits of a term insurance plan? Besides the low premiums, which are an obvious favorite, the plan fulfills the most basic life goal – income replacement. By providing a combination of a high Sum Assured and cheapest premiums, a term insurance plan ensures financial security for the family if the insured dies pre-maturely. As such, a term plan is very popular among many of us.

Have you invested in a term insurance plan? Great! Have you included a Critical Illness Rider in your Term plan?

Riders, like the insurance plan, are also a very beneficial component. It is mostly because of our ignorance that we overlook riders when we buy a term plan. Take the instance of the Critical Illness  itself. Despite being beneficial, how many of us have included it in our term plan? Not many. So, let us put our ignorance to rest and understand what a Critical Illness Rider is and how it is important.

What is a Critical Illness Rider?

Riders are additional benefits which can be added to our basic insurance plan for increased benefits. It covers specific critical illnesses. If we suffer from any of the covered critical illness, the rider pays us an additional Sum Assured in lump sum. This benefit is paid simply on diagnosis of our illness irrespective of whether we die or avail treatment for the same.

What is the importance of including the Critical Illness Rider with our Term Insurance Plan?

·         Critical Illnesses are common and financially difficult

Do you know why Critical Illnesses are called so? These illnesses are severe, fatal and chronic. They involve complicated medical treatments and procedures. Do you know the cost of such procedures? Let’s just say that the costs are magnanimous. Juxtaposed to this, critical illnesses are also becoming very common nowadays. Whether you talk about cancer, stroke, heart attacks or organ failures, critical illnesses are on the rise. This deadly combination of increasing illnesses and high medical costs is a curse for us, both physiologically and financially. Critical Illness Riders, by providing financial support, help in taking care of the financial aspect of the illness which would otherwise be difficult for us.

·         The rider increases the scope of cover

Our term insurance plan pays the benefit only in case of pre-mature death. What happens if we are merely diagnosed with an illness which might not cause death? Would the term plan pay? No, it won’t. But, a critical illness, though not fatal, does require considerable funds for its treatment. A Illness Rider comes into the picture here. Since the rider pays the benefit on mere diagnosis of the ailment, it provides us with the required funds for the treatment of the illness. As such, the rider increases the scope of coverage.

·         The rider helps in replacing your income

When we suffer from a critical illness, we are forced to take a break from work. As such, our income stops. The benefit paid by the rider can be used to replace this income and meet the day-to-day living expenses of us and our family.

·         The rider saves additional tax

The premiums you pay for your term plan is exempt from taxation under Section 80C. If you also include a Critical Illness Rider, you get an additional tax exemption under Section 80D. Thus, the rider helps you in claiming additional tax exemption.

A critical illness rider, thus, has various benefits. These benefits can be yours if you include the rider in your term plan. If you are worried about the additional premium outgo, relax! Rider premiums are minimal. By paying a fraction of your term insurance premium, you can add the rider to your basic plan. Do the math yourself. Do a term insurance comparison, or a Term insurance with return of premium comparison both with and without the rider and you would understand the cost-benefit aspect of the Illness rider. With so many benefits promised by the rider at the lowest possible cost, isn’t it prudent to add it to your term plan?

Source: Why Critical Illness is needed with Your Basic Term insurance? 

How to Plan Your Health Insurance Premiums Well in Advance?

Do you know what happens when we leave things till the last possible minute? We hurry, fret and scramble over completing them when the time finally draws near. In this whole melee, we make a mistake. Don’t wise men say haste creates waste? When it comes to buying a health insurance plan too we procrastinate till we no longer can. Buying late has many disadvantages, paying a higher premium being one of them. If you plan ahead, you can plan your health insurance premiums in advance and also save money. Isn’t saving what all of us desire?

With all this talk of planning your health insurance premium in advance, you might be wondering how you can go about it. Well, it is easy, actually. If you plan certain pointers ahead of buying your health insurance policy, you can plan your health insurance premium too. Want to know how? Read on:

·         Find out the plan most suitable for you

There are many health insurance plans available in the market today. Your first step should be finding out which plan suits your needs the best. Compare between the health insurance plans offered by the best health insurance companies and choose the most beneficial one. Then find out the amount of premium payable. Last minute searching of health plans does not allow you to compare and find the best policy. That is why you should find a plan and approximate the premium amount in advance.

·         Assess your savings and affordability

After you understand the amount of premium, ascertain whether the premium is affordable for you. This way, if not affordable, you can settle on a plan with a lower coverage amount and then buy a top-up plan to supplement your Sum Assured. This way, the premium would not put a strain on your savings. Furthermore, do not go overboard when buying a health plan. While an optimal Sum Assured is advised, buying a very high cover without requirement would result in an unnecessarily high premium outgo. Understand the coverage you require and then buy the plan to pay the optimal premium.

·         Search for discounts

Health insurance plans allow you different kinds of premium discounts. These discounts maybe for including more than two family members in the plan coverage, buying a plan online, for paying the premium of two or three years at once or for being healthy. Search out these discounts before you buy a plan and you could lower your premium outgo.

·         Consider the tax angle as well

The amount of premium you pay for your health plan is exempted from tax under Section 80D. While for normal individuals the exemption limit is Rs.25, 000 currently, for senior citizens the limit increases to Rs.30, 000. So, when planning your premium outgo, remember the tax implication. You would be able to claim exemptions only up to the maximum limit. Premiums higher than these limits would not be exempted from tax.

·         Use the grace period

A health insurance policy is a one year contract. After the expiry of a year you are required to renew your plan to enjoy continuous coverage and continuity benefits. If you do not renew the plan, the policy lapses and you lose the continuity benefits. If you fail to pay the premium before or on the due date, you are allowed a grace period of 30 days to pay the outstanding premium and renew your policy. Make use of this period. If you are in a financial crisis and unable to pay your renewal premium, do not let your policy lapse. Plan your premium payment in the grace period to enjoy uninterrupted coverage.

Your health insurance policy premium also requires proper and careful planning if you want to save the maximum. Go online to compare the plans available and find out their premium rate. Find the best health insurance company in India to buy a health plan from and plan your premiums in advance. 

Source: How to Plan Your Health Insurance Premiums Well in Advance?

How to Choose the Best Health Insurance Products for Senior Citizens?

Isn’t a health insurance plan important? If the rising incidence of diseases does not motivate you towards buying a health plan, the increasing cost of medical treatments would sure do. Most of us, being an average middle class individual, find it hard to afford the huge medical costs and so rely on a health insurance. Insurers too understand the requirement of a health plan and so provide plans which are great on features and affordable on pockets. Thanks to the constant innovations in the health insurance industry, today, health plans are also available for senior citizens. Yes, you heard me right. You can now buy a health insurance policy especially for your aged parents or for yourself if you are old and do not have a health insurance cover.

Senior citizen health plans are offered by many insurance companies. These plans are designed keeping in mind the needs of senior citizens. Thus, they have low or no waiting period and also provide a comprehensive cover. With the spate of senior citizen health plans available in the market today, do you know how to select the best one?

Look for these parameters when comparing senior citizen plans to choose the best one:

·         Coverage amount:

When you are old, you face a higher probability of seeking medical attention. Health insurance companies know this health risk and limit the coverage available. The plan’s coverage level should be an important consideration when you are buying a senior citizen plan. As the medical costs are high, you should, ideally, look for health plans which allow you a decent amount of cover.

·         Scope of coverage:

Not only is the coverage amount important. The scope of coverage is important too. While normal health plans might provide you with a comprehensive coverage option, senior citizen ones restrict the coverage because of the health risk you present. So, when choosing the best plan ensures that the plan has all the important coverage features. Some useful features include domiciliary coverage, day-care procedures coverage, low co-payment rate, organ donor cover, etc.

·         Waiting period:

Illnesses or ailments which you are affected with at the time of buying the health plans are called pre-existing illnesses. These illnesses are not covered by the plan for initial few years. This is called the waiting period. Senior citizen plans also have this waiting period clause albeit the tenure is low. To choose the best plan, go for the plan with the lowest waiting period so that your existing ailments are covered at the earliest.

·         Renewal age:

IRDA has allowed health insurance plans to be renewable lifelong. While most health insurance provide lifelong renewability, some senior citizen plans do not. When you choose a plan, make sure that the plan has lifelong renewability so that you can enjoy continuous coverage.

·         Premium rate:

This is very important, isn’t it? Since senior citizen health plans cover older individuals who have a higher health risk, the premium is, obviously, a bit high compared to normal health insurance plans. However, to appeal to an average customer, insurance companies charge reasonable premiums. Compare the premium rates of the plans you are considering and settle for one which has the lowest rate without compromising on coverage.

·         Discounts:

Yes, you can avail discounts too in your health insurance. Senior citizen plans allow discounts for including your spouse in the cover, for buying the policy online and also for paying a two or three year premium at once. The rate of discounts varies across different plans and the best one is the plan with the highest discounts. After all, good discounts are good for your pockets too, isn’t it?

A senior citizen health insurance plan is a good option for covering you or your parents in older ages. Bear the above-mentioned points in mind when comparing the available plans so that you buy the best one among the rest. Go online, compare the best family floater health insurance in India for yourself and your spouse and buy a senior citizen plan today.

Source: How to Choose the Best Health Insurance Products for Senior Citizens?