Family Health Insurance Plan

The financial security of your family is essential to afford the increasing cost of health care today. Family health insurance provides protection to your entire family against medical expenses incurred during an emergency on an individual or floater sum insured basis. Insurers offer a variety of family health insurance plans with impressive coverage benefits, a large network of hospitals for cashless treatment and quick claim settlement.

Family health insurance plan is a kind of mediclaim policy that covers entire family in a single health insurance policy. Under this plan, a fixed sum insured is shared by all the family members with an assumption that only one member will get sick at any given point of time. Most family health insurance plans offer cashless hospitalization facilities, cover pre & post hospitalization and offer maternity benefits as well. Apart from getting financial protection against the high cost of treatment for your family, a health insurance policy is an excellent way to get tax-deductions.

• Aditya Birla Activ Health Enhanced Plan- One of the leading insurance companies in India, it offers exclusive plans for a family. It offers sum insured ranging from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 2 crores. Policy includes in-patient hospitalization, pre-hospitalization with 60 days waiting period,post-hospitalization with 180 days waiting period, daycare procedures, ambulance coverage, organ donor expenses, homecare treatment expenses, health check-ups, wellness coach, hospital cash benefit, etc. Additionally, the family floater policy covers up to 9 members, has no-age limit except the minimum age of 91 days.
• Digit Family Health Insurance Plan- It is a reputed insurer that offers comprehensive coverage of the best family floater health insurance plans in India. Sum insured amounts range from Rs. 2 lakhs to Rs. 25 lakhs. Policy covers some key features like additional sum insured for accidental hospitalization, additional sum insured for critical illness hospitalization, maternity benefit, newborn baby cover, mental illness coverage, bariatric surgery, organ donor expenses, no age-based co-payment, annual check-ups, ambulance coverage, ICU room rent, Ayush coverage, refill sum insured, etc.
• Kotak Family Health Insurance Plan- It offers plans for the families that ensure more protection against financial crunches. The family health insurance policy provides coverage with sum insured amounts ranging from Rs. 3 lakhs to Rs. 25 lakhs. It is a comprehensive plan that offers outstanding features like daycare procedures, organ donor expenses, domiciliary hospitalization, hospital daily cash, in-patient hospitalization, air ambulance coverage, etc. The maximum age of entry for this plan is 65 years, and the minimum age is 91 months.
• Max Bupa Health companion Health Insurance- It provides an exclusive family health insurance plan at affordable rates, thereby leading the way to ensure comprehensive coverage. It provides policies with sum insured options ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 1 crore and allows a policyholder to undergo high-quality treatments in the network hospitals. Benefits offered by the policy include but are not limited to, in-patient hospitalization, pre-hospitalization, OPD coverage, AYUSH treatment, organ donor expenses, daycare treatments, etc. The plan is considered the best family medical insurance in India that aims to cater to customers’ needs when it comes to plan coverage.
• Star Family Health optima Insurance Plan- This is one of the health insurance firms which offer a wide range of plans for a family. It lets policyholders choose a family health insurance with sum insured options ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 25 lakhs. Plan covers benefits such as health check-ups, domiciliary hospitalization, in-patient hospitalization, road and air ambulance charges, coverage for modern treatment, newborn cover, organ donor coverage, pre-hospitalization, post-hospitalization, and additional sum insured for the road accident cases.

Family Mediclaim policy is one of the best ways to safeguard your entire family from financial uncertainties. As compared to individual health plans, family mediclaim policy has more benefits. These are summarized below:

• A family Mediclaim policy is a one-stop insurance plan, a single policy, that covers and protects the entire family.
• It is more convenient to pay a single premium for the entire family, rather than paying for various individual plans.
• The sum insured of a family Mediclaim policy is for every family member which makes the coverage broader and better

There are several benefits that insured family members can get with family floater health insurance plans. Here is a quick rundown of some of the main benefits of buying a family health insurance plan:

• Stress-free Expense Coverage for Hospitalization -Any member of the insured family can avail cashless treatment in a network hospital of the insurance provider.
• Get Health Insurance Cover for Parents in the Same Plan - There are several health insurers who allow people to include both parents and parent-in-law under a family health plan at no additional cost.
• Affordable Premium - Family health insurance plans do not require you to pay individual premiums for all the family members but under the same plan, at an affordable premium.
• Insure New Family Members Easily - In family health insurance one can add a new family member easily by paying an extra premium. Unlike an individual cover, one doesn’t need to take a fresh policy every time a new member is added to the family. If you decide to add your parents to an existing health insurance plan, make sure to increase your sum insured.
• COVID Health Insurance for Family - You can buy health insurance for Coronavirus to financially secure yourself and your family members against the virus. All insurance providers are offering coronavirus treatment cover under basic health plan. It has also been launched to covers hospitalization costs incurred on the treatment of coronavirus on a floater basis
• Option to Avail Additional Benefits - Various add-on options are available under family health plans, including critical illness cover, maternity cover, etc.
• Tax Benefits on Health Insurance Premium – Family health insurance premium is tax exempted under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.

The most common coverage available under family health insurance plans are:

• In-patient Hospitalization Expenses - Any medical expenses incurred on hospitalization of more than 24 hours due to an illness or accidental injury is covered.
• Day Care Procedures - It covers the cost of any day care procedures, requiring a hospitalization of less than 24 hours.
• Ambulance Charges - The expenses incurred on availing ambulance services to the hospital during medical emergency situations is covered.
• Pre and Post-Hospitalization Expenses - The medical expenses incurred before hospitalization like; medical investigation, tests, etc. and after discharge (follow-up consultation, etc.) are also covered up to a certain number of days.
• Maternity Cover - Most family health insurance plans come with maternity cover for pregnancy-related expenses and newborn baby expenses.
• Organ Donor Expenses - It covers the cost of harvesting an organ and transplant expenses related to the donor.
• AYUSH Treatment - Any hospitalization expenses incurred to avail treatment through Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani Yoga, are covered.
• Domiciliary Treatment - It pays for the medical expenses incurred on availing treatment at home on the advice of a doctor.
• Daily Cash Allowance - A daily hospital cash allowance is provided to the policyholder. This helps them cover day-to-day incidental expenses during hospitalization.
• Mental Illness Cover - Most family health insurance plans provide coverage for mental diseases, such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, etc.

When buying health insurance for family and in order to understand, one must thoroughly read the points mentioned in policy documents especially those related to the policy exclusions. Also, it is important to check the waiting periods under the policy. Following medical expenses are generally not covered by family health insurance plans in India:

• OPD treatments and routine medical check-ups
• Expenses incurred on aesthetic treatment or plastic surgeries
• Expenses incurred on life-support machines and equipment
• Overseas treatment unless it is included in the plan
• Any illness or injury resulting due to war, nuclear reaction, rebellion, acts of foreign enemies, etc.
• Injury or illness due to participation in criminal or unethical activities
• Pregnancy or childbirth-related complications
• Any pre-existing medical condition is not covered until waiting period is over

Every family health insurance plan comes with eligibility criteria that vary from one plan to another. The following table shows a standard eligibility criterion for family health insurance plans in India:

Several types of waiting periods are applicable in family health insurance plans. To understand what they imply, please read below:

• Initial Waiting Period - This is a specific number of days a family health insurance policy holder has to wait after issue of policy, in order to make any claim. It is also known as a cooling period. All family health insurance plans come with a standard waiting period of at least 1 month and a maximum of 90 days. The only exception to this initial waiting period is the claims related to accidents.
• Pre-Existing Diseases (PED) Waiting Period - It is a special waiting period for certain pre-existing diseases, that the health insurance policyholder discloses at the time of purchasing policy. As per the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), a pre-existing disease is defined as; any condition, ailment, disease or injury, that is diagnosed up to 48 months before the family health insurance policy purchase.
• Waiting Period for Specific Diseases - There are several diseases like hernia, tumor, ENT disorder, cancer, stroke, cardiac ailments, that come with a specific waiting period in health insurance policy. The waiting period for a family health insurance plan covering these diseases usually ranges between 2 years and 4 years.
• Maternity Waiting Period - Under family health insurance plans, the policyholders can get maternity and newborn baby cover as an add-on. There are many family health insurance plans that come with an in-built maternity cover. But the cover comes into effect only after completing a waiting period of 2 years to 4 years.
• Waiting Period for Bariatric Surgery - Some family health insurances plans cover bariatric surgery too.
• Waiting Period for Coronavirus - To avail of coverage benefits like hospitalisation and treatment under coronavirus plans, family health Insurance policyholder needs to complete a waiting period of up to 30 days.

There are a plethora of family mediclaim policies in India, which makes choosing the best plan a difficult task. You can save your time by comparing the quotes of different family health insurance plans online at securenow.in. Let’s look at some of the reasons why you should consider buying a family health insurance plan online:

• More Convenient- Buying an online health insurance policy for your family is a convenient process now a days. You can easily compare various plans or get expert advice anytime, anywhere. Besides, you don’t need to fill up multiple forms at the time of buying the plan or stand in a queue to submit them.
• Instant Quotes - The process of buying family health insurance plan online is very quick, as one can get quotes from different insurance companies instantly. The quotes can be compared with each other to help you choose the best plan within your budget.
• Safe Payment Modes - As the world has turned digital, people prefer online payment over cash or cheque to reduce the risk of fraud. Digital payment options, such as debit cards, credit cards, net banking etc. with safe payment gateways are available.
• Instant Policy Issuance - Gone are the days when you had to wait for weeks to get your policy document. Your policy will be issued almost instantly when you purchase it online.
• Online Access to Policy Services - Once you have purchased a family health insurance plan, you can easily access your policy documents and avail after-sales services online or by downloading the mobile application. You can also raise a health insurance claim online through the insurers’ website.

You can file a health insurance claim in two ways – 1) Cashless claim and 2) Reimbursement claim. The procedure for filing claim for both types are given below:

Cashless Claim Process:

• Inform your insurance company about the health emergency
• Fill up the pre-authorization form, which you can find at the TPA or insurance desk of the network
• Submit the pre-authorization form with other documents to the hospital who will forward it to your insurer
• The Claim management team of your insurer will share with you a letter of approval if the claim request is approved.
• If there is any query regarding your claim, then the insurance company will contact the hospital for the same.
• If it’s not approved, you will have to request for reimbursement
• Once approved, receive the treatment at the hospital and sign all the documents before discharge.
• Your insurer and the network hospital will coordinate to settle your medical bills

Reimbursement Claim Process:

• Timely and promptly Intimate your insurer about your medical emergency
• Receive the required treatment at a non-network hospital
• Pay the hospital bills, collect, and file all documents at the time of discharge
• Submit the filled-in claim form along with required documents to your insurance provider
• The claim management team of the insurance company will review your claim.
• You will receive a letter of approval or rejection from the team after your claim has been verified.

If you want to buy a family health insurance policy to cover all your family members, you can easily buy it online from SecureNow Insurance Broker. They assist you to compare multiple health insurance plans online and buy one as per your coverage needs and budget. One can follow the below given steps to buy a family health insurance plan online:

• Go to the website www.securenow.in
• Click on the ‘Individual Insurance’ on top navigation on the homepage
• Enter your contact details, such as your name, phone number and email etc.
• Select the age of the proposer
• Family health insurance plans from multiple insurance companies will be displayed for comparison
• Compare the plans, view plans’ details and choose the best plan for your family’s needs
• Pay the premium for the plan online
• You will receive your family health insurance policy within few minutes

In case of any query, you can reach out to insurance experts at securenow.in by calling on the toll-free number at +919696683999 or by sending an email to support@securenow.in You can also reach us on Whatsapp +91 9999207828