Health Insurance
Health Insurance
Health insurance has shifted from being a choice to a core financial necessity in India, driven by medical inflation reaching 11%–14% annually. A single hospitalisation can now cost between ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh, potentially wiping out years of family savings.
Benefits of Health Insurance:
- Cashless Treatment: Most insurers offer a “Cashless Everywhere” feature at network hospitals, where the insurer settles bills directly with the facility, removing the need for you to arrange large sums of cash during emergencies.
- Comprehensive Coverage: Plans typically cover:
- In-patient hospitalisation (room rent, doctor fees, surgery costs).
- Pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses for up to 60–90 days (diagnostics and follow-up care).
- Day Care procedures that require less than 24 hours of hospitalisation (e.g., cataract surgery, dialysis).
- Annual Health Check-ups: Most modern plans include free yearly screenings to detect potential health issues early, which can reduce long-term treatment costs.
- Tax Savings (Section 80D): You can claim tax deductions on premiums paid for yourself, your family, and your parents under the Old Tax Regime:
- ₹25,000 for self, spouse, and children (below 60 years).
- ₹50,000 for senior citizen parents (above 60 years).
- Up to ₹1 lakh total if both the taxpayer and parents are senior citizens.
- No-Claim Bonus (NCB): For every year you don’t file a claim, insurers often reward you by increasing your “Sum Insured” by 10% to 50% at no extra premium cost.
Popular Plan Types
- Individual Plans: Best for dedicated, high-sum insured coverage for one person.
- Family Floater Plans: A single policy covering the entire family, often more cost-effective than individual plans.
- Super Top-up Plans: An affordable way to increase your total cover (e.g., adding ₹20 lakh cover over a ₹5 lakh base policy) for major surgeries
