With rising costs and healthcare issues, it has become all the more important to keep yourself and your family protected against healthcare threats. Your best bet against these is investing in robust family health insurance. Though having long-term family health insurance early is important, there are other ways to plan long-term health expenses for you and your family. However, doing this early can be beneficial because as you age, health complications and expenses start rising. Having a wide coverage offering health insurance plan in hand is important to ensure you are financially guarded against medical emergencies.
In this blog, we will discuss a few long-term health expense planning tips to ensure you have enough funds in case of any medical emergency.
Why do you need a long-term plan?
Family health insurance is a great way to plan for the long-term health expenses of your family. A long-term health insurance plan usually lasts 2-3 years, in which your coverage is locked for a decided period. A general long-term family health insurance covers all hospitalisation charges, consultation fees, medicines, and other expenses. Furthermore, the premiums on health insurance for self, spouse and children also come with tax benefits.
Also, when you opt for a long-term family health insurance plan, you don’t have to renew your policy yearly. Moreover, several insurance providers offer long-term plans at a discounted rate under which all your family would be covered. Buying a long-term health insurance plan makes you immune to the annual premium revision. Thus, you will have to pay the same premium which was finalised at the time of purchasing the plan.
What are some tips for planning long-term health expenses?
With the correct information and guidance, you can create a long-term healthcare plan to avoid any financial crisis during a medical emergency. Below are some for you to consider –
- Preventive health check-ups: Consider your family’s medical history to understand the types of medical conditions and challenges that might occur in the future. You can go for a regular and extensive health check-up to understand your medical condition to your nearby healthcare provider. They will conduct several tests to detect any underlying disease, and the doctor will recommend what to do to eliminate any such disease. This will help you mitigate the risk of getting severe illness later in life, which might cost you a fortune. Some health insurance plans also cover preventive checkups. You can avail of those or you can buy many preventive health check-up packages to ensure you are protected from any severe ailments.
- Consider a health savings account: The central government of India voluntarily manages HSA or the health savings account. It has a unique blend of investment and health, which helps you save your health expenses in the long run. The amount invested in the HSA ensures you get the maximum return on your savings so that future ailments do not dent your pocket. This plan helps you save on doctor’s appointments, eye and dental treatment, and prescription medicines. Thus, it helps you cover your out-of-pocket medical costs, even if you have a comprehensive family health insurance plan.
- Buy a family floater plan: A family floater is a kind of family health insurance plan that covers all your family members under one plan with an affordable premium. This means the policy has one sum assured and is shared between all the members. Thus, it saves you money on premiums as there is no need to buy separate plans for every individual. Apart from these, the family floater plan has the following benefits –
- If any members suffer from critical illnesses, they can use the entire sum assured.
- You can claim tax benefits under section 80D of the Income Tax Act.
However, the premium of the family floater plan is based on the age of the oldest family member. The premiums will be high if you have a dependent parent above 60 years. This is because the chances of them getting hospitalised are high.
- Long-term renewal plans: A health insurance plan is an extremely important financial for medical contingencies, which is why you need an active health plan always. However, your policy will lapse if you fail to renew the insurance. This might cost you additional expenses to buy the insurance once again. So, to avoid this, all health insurance providers must offer lifetime renewability, per the IRDAI guidelines.
The ability to renew the insurance for a lifetime provides a financial shield, especially after you retire. It also helps you save premiums and avoid the hassle of renewing them every year. You can continue to avail yourself of the lifetime renewal features even after you have filed a claim for the current year. It also ensures the policy can be renewed yearly without age restrictions. Thus, considering the huge rise in medical costs, opting for a lifetime renewability feature is important.
- Top-up plans if multiple dependents: Top-up plans are a supplement to your current health insurance plan. Your medical insurance might get exhausted as you have several dependents. Hence, a top-up plan protects you if the sum insured by the health insurance plan is exhausted. However, a top-up plan comes with mandatory deductibles. Also, it enhances coverage by providing extended coverage. Thus, giving you peace of mind. In addition, you can also buy a top-up even if you do not have a basic health insurance plan. However, buying a family health insurance plan with an amount equal to the deductibles is wise.
A top-up health insurance plan has no restrictions or sub-limits on hospitalisation expenses such as doctor’s fees, room rents, etc. It also offers a family discount which can help you save money in the long term, which includes – spouses, policyholders, and dependent children. The dependent parents are usually covered in a separate family floater health insurance.
In your pursuit to plan and manage long-term health expenses for your family, you must buy a family health insurance plan as it offers long-term protection for you and your family. There are several other ways you can save for long-term health expenses for your family, such as creating a medical fund, having all your medical documents handy, buying critical cover for your family, investing in a multi-year plan, and many more.
Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purposes only. For more details, please refer to the policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.
