Question

briefly describe the guidelines that consumers should follow when individual health insurance is purchased

Answer 1

Please see below the guidelines that consumers should follow when individual health insurance is purchased:

1. Choosing the right amount as 'sum insured' - While selecting a Sum Insured one needs to keep the today’s costs in mind. If you are the one who is putting in a small city then your aim of cover can be lower whereas if you live in a metropolitan than your cover should be higher. Also, one should remember to keep on increasing one's health cover from time to time to take care of the medical inflation.

2. Get early protection - Buy a health cover as early in life as possible and definitely before one turns 40. As one is likely to make no or few claims in earlier stages of life, one can get the benefit of no-claims bonus and add up to the original coverage every claim-free year.

3. One should buy only a health cover which gives lifetime renewability. One's aim shoudl be to have a health cover at older ages when one will have ailments and that protection is possible only if one's policy offers lifetime renewability.

4. Never lie and hide information in you application form. If you have an ailment please make sure you mention it. Get the broker to help you get a plan which will cover the ailment even after a waiting period.

5. List of tied up hospitals - Cashless claims have become the trend in health insurance claim settlement. These claims do not require you to take the burden of the hospital bills. The bills are directly settled by the insurance company. However, there is a catch. Cashless claim facility is available only at those hospitals which are tied up the insurance company. So, if you want the company to settle your bills directly with the hospital, you need to seek treatment at tied-up hospitals only. While buying the plan, therefore, you should check out the list of tied-up hospitals. Find out whether your preferred hospital or the hospital in your vicinity is in the company’s panel of preferred providers. Knowing the tied-up hospitals would ease your claim process tremendously and should be factored in when buying a insurance plan.