Top Up Health Insurance

Health insurance will protect you and your family against any financial contingency arising due to a medical emergency. However, a health insurance top up plan on your base policy is of equal importance due to various reasons.

• It supplements your existing medical insurance
• It covers one against medical emergency in case of exhaustion of the basic cover
• It covers one against medical emergency in case of change in job
• It supplements your savings when the treatment costs exceed your savings

The only difference is between normal mediclaim plan and top up health insurance plan is the deductible amount. Deductible is the amount over which the claim for hospitalization is reimbursable.Policy holder has to opt for deductible amount at the time of buying the fresh plan. Higher the deductible, cheaper the plan. But top-up health plans should be bought to bridge the gap between existing policies and actual costs.

The biggest difference between a Top Up Health Insurance and a Super Top Up Health Insurance is the way they calculate the deductible amount

In case of a Top Up medical insurance, each and every hospitalisation is treated as a separate instance and deductible is calculated for each of the instances.

In case of Super Top Up health insurance, as long as you have reached your deductible limit in aggregate, the super top up will pay.

For Example: You have a Deductible Limit of Rs 2 Lakhs and you have 2 Hospitalization claims in a year. First claim is for Rs 1 Lakhs and second one is for Rs 1.5 Lakhs. So, If you have a Top Up Health Insurance Plan you will not be able to claim anything as each of your claim will be treated separately. But in case of Super Top Up, the claims will be seen in aggregate for a year and you will Rs 50,000 (2.5 Lakhs - 2 Lakhs) reimbursed.

Age is a major factor that determines the premium, the older you are the premium cost will be higher because you are more prone to illnesses. Previous medical history is another major factor that determines the premium. If no prior medical history exists, premium will automatically be lower. Claim free years can also be a factor in determining the cost of the premium as it might benefit you with certain percentage of discount. This will automatically help you reduce your premium.

Insurance is a contract of utmost good faith. It always pays to be honest. Declaring the correct and accurate health status at the time of buying health insurance ensures smooth processing of your application. This will also help insurance companies to serve you in a better manner.

A waiting period is the length of time the insured need to wait before being eligible for Health Policy benefits.