Family Health Insurance Plans

Complete family health insurance policy is the best tool to protect and safeguard the insurance needs of the entire family. A health insurance plan in India for the family will offer protection against the expenses incurred towards the treatment of health issues. The following article will help us understand in detail about this unique insurance plan.

What is a family health plan?

Family Health Insurance Plan is one of kind health insurance coverage offered to the customers. health insurance plans in India for the family are designed to cover for the medical expenses of the entire family under a single health insurance plan. You can cover yourself, your spouse, your children (maximum up to 4 children) under a family floater health insurance plan. Additionally, some insurance providers provide the facility to cover your parents as well as your parent’s in-law under the family health plan. With a single health insurance plan, you get health insurance coverage for the entire family. Health insurance plans in India for the family is the best insurance plan used for safeguarding the health of your entire family.

What are the Types of Family Health Plan?

Health insurance plans in India for the family are designed to offer health insurance coverage to the entire family under a single insurance umbrella. The health insurance plan in India are broadly categorized into two types namely:

1. Medical Insurance: Under this plan, the cost of treatment and hospitalization is borne by the insurance provider. The medical expenses are either reimbursed by the insurance provider or cashless hospitalization facility is offered.
2. Critical Illness Insurance Plan: As the name suggests this plan covers the expenses towards the treatment of critical illnesses. However, insurance providers in India offer this as a rider benefit rather than a family health insurance plan.

Advantages of a Family Health Plan

The health insurance plans in India for the family is a comprehensive insurance package that covers the health insurance needs of the entire family. This plan is suitable for every family as it takes care of the expenses arising out of medical emergencies or treatment. Following are the advantages of family health insurance plans:

1. One Insurance Product: One of the biggest advantages of a family health insurance plan is that you and your entire family is covered under the same insurance umbrella. You and your family members all are under one insurance cover irrespective of age.
2. Hassle-free: Being a comprehensive insurance umbrella i.e. single health insurance policy for the entire family makes it easier to track premium payments and maintaining the records. In this way, you can get away from maintaining different health insurance policies for every family member and making premium payments separately.
3. Inclusive: Health insurance plans in India for the family are holistic as they allow you to include your ageing parents as well as extended family i.e. parents’ in-law. Seeing an explosive price rise in healthcare treatments it is best to opt for an insurance provider who offers family floater health insurance plans.
4. Tax Benefit: Health insurance premium paid whether in cash or by any other mode is subject to receive tax relief under section 80D of the income tax act. If none of the family members is above the age of 60 years then the total deduction allowed is up to Rs 50000 (Rs 25000 for yourself and Rs 25000 for Parents) however if both or either parent is above 60 years then the total deduction allowed is up to Rs 75000 (Rs 25000 for yourself and Rs 50000 for parents)

Things to Consider Before Buying a Family Health Plan

Numerous health insurance providers offering a wide range of family floater health insurance plans. With the availability of numerous options, it becomes difficult to arrive at decisions. To cut down your confusion we have listed below some important factors that you must consider before buying a family health insurance plan.

1. Insurance Coverage:

Understanding all the basic details about the insurance coverage is very important. Understanding the inclusions and exclusions of the insurance cover offered by the plan will make comparing different family floater health insurance plan easier. Know beforehand the terms and conditions of expenses related to the waiting period, critical illness expenses, in-patient expenses, daily cash allowance, etc. Similarly, know the conditions related to the inclusion of new family members under the insurance coverage.

2. Cashless Hospitalization:

Cashless Hospitalization is one of the most lucrative and advantageous features of health insurance policies. No doubt that most of the insurance provider offers cashless hospitalization facility but ensure whether the insurance provider is offering collaboration with good hospitals under this facility.

3. Co-payment:

Co-payment, as the name suggests, refers to paying a certain percentage of medical bills to be paid by the policyholder from his own pocket. Some insurance provider offers an option to choose of cashless hospitalization and co-payment facility to the policyholder. Opting co-payment facility results in lowering of premium but it is recommended to read all the terms and conditions carefully before opting for this facility as you might end up by burning a hole in your pocket.

4. Claim Settlement Ratio:

Claim Settlement Ratio is one of the most important factors that you must consider before buying a health insurance plan in India for family. The claim settlement ratio is an indicator of whether the insurance provider is settling the claim request or not. So, choose an insurance provider that offers a higher claim settlement ratio
Thus, above are certain important factors that every individual must consider before buying health insurance plans in India for family.

Exclusions of Family Health Plans

Exclusions are one of the most important factors that you must closely understand before buying a family health insurance plan. A few common clauses that might fall under exclusions are pre-existing medical conditions, pre and post hospitalization, cashless hospitalization, and waiting period. These clauses and their terms and conditions are deciding factors of whether you are interested to buy the family health insurance plan.

But if you include parents and parents’ in-law ageing more than 60 years then your premium amount shall significantly increase and you shall have insurance coverage for fewer years. Similarly, dependent children are insured under the family floater health insurance plan up to typically 18 years of age. The policy does not cover dependent children once they cross the specified age limit.
Apart from this some of the common exclusions under health insurance plans in India for the family are:

1. Claim raised within the 30 days of the waiting period
2. Claims related to sexually transmitted diseases
3. Claims related to the treatment of gender change
4. Expenses related to plastic surgery, enhancement of physical aesthetics, etc
5. Claims related to the treatment of self-inflicted injury or suicide or attempt to suicide

Thus, gain knowledge about the exclusions under the plan beforehand. Additionally, while buying a family floater health insurance plan it is important to understand that the plan must offer holistic insurance coverage. It must act as an umbrella covering every family member so including family members in this umbrella must be done concisely.

What to Opt – individual Health Plan or Family Health Plans?

Health insurance plan whether individual or family floater offers financial security and takes care of the medical expenses. An individual health insurance plan covers for the medical expenses of an individual while the health insurance plans in India for family cover all the family members (you, your spouse and your children, while some insurance provider will also allow you to include your parents and your parents’ in-law).

Family health insurance is one policy for the entire family where the premium amount is dependent on the age of the policyholder while under individual health insurance plan the premium amount varies for every member as per their age. It is significantly difficult to say what to opt but in a practical scenario, if you are in favour of an individual health insurance plan then you will have to purchase separately for each family member. As there are multiple individual health insurance plans therefore the cumulative premium amount shall be higher than the premium amount of family health insurance policy.

Therefore, the choice to opt for an individual health plan or family health plan purely depends on the customers’ viewpoint, financial convenience, and insurance needs.

Eligibility Criteria for a Family Health Plans

The eligibility criteria for health insurance plans in India for the family might vary for every health insurance provider, however, the general eligibility criteria are the same. following are some important pointers you must keep in mind before buying a family health insurance plan.

1. In the case of a family floater health insurance plan, the eldest member of the family is the policyholder. The age eligibility for the policyholder is minimum from 18 years to 65 years (some insurance provider may allow entry age more than 65 years).
2. The entry age for other family members apart from the policyholder is as under: Adults: Minimum 18 years to maximum 65 years (some insurance provider may allow entry age more than 65 years)Dependent children: 90 days (some insurance provider may allow entry age from 30 days as well)
3. The family health insurance plan allows you to include and cover new member by paying an additional premium.
4. The family health insurance policy expires as soon as the policyholder i.e. the eldest family member crosses the maximum age eligibility criteria. So do not include parents or parent in-laws if their age is above 60 years. Including senior citizen family members under the family, the health insurance plan will also result in a significant rise in the health insurance premium.
5. The dependent children shall not be covered under the family health insurance plan as soon as they cross the maximum age limit criteria mentioned in the policy document.
6. It is highly recommended to increase the sum coverage of the family health insurance plan when you include a new member under the health insurance umbrella. This will ensure sufficient insurance coverage for the entire family.

Thus, to sum it up, almost anyone can buy health insurance plans in India for the family as per the terms and conditions of the insurance provider.

How to Buy a Family Health Plan?

Buying a new family floater health insurance plan for the entire family is simple. You can go online and search for various family floater health insurance plans offered by various major insurance providers in India. In our website, you can compare many family health insurance plans simultaneously which makes it easier for you to choose the best plan as per your financial convenience. Alternatively, if you have an existing health insurance plan and wish to include your family members in it, it is best to contact your existing insurance provider first.

It is recommended to opt for sufficient coverage for family floater health insurance plan, as insufficient coverage might result in you paying for medical bills from your pocket. Therefore, you can buy a family health insurance plan either from an online portal or via offline mode by visiting the nearest office of your preferred insurance provider.

Summary

A single health insurance policy for the entire family that will offer protection against medical expenses. A family health plan is the best gift you can give to yourself and your loved ones.