We all work towards the well-being and safety of our family. Hence, we do all kinds of financial planning to safeguard their interests. Getting health insurance for them is one such financial planning that you cannot skip upon. Diseases and ailments can strike unannounced and suddenly and can cause a big dent in your finances. Getting an insurance protection cover safeguards the family from going rich to rags.
A family insurance plan helps you protect your entire family in the best possible manner. But is vastly different from an individual health plan. Here, we present a comprehensive guide to a Family Health Insurance Plan to help you make an educated decision.
- Defining a family health insurance plan
Popularly called as a family floater, it is a single health plan that covers all specified members of the family. As the need may be, the sum assured can be used by the entire family or just one individual under the plan.
- Members covered under the plan
Typically, most plans allow you to cover your spouse, your children (both biological and adopted) and your dependent parents. But there are very few policies around that facilitate coverage for your relatives like your brothers and sisters as well, provided, they are financially dependent on you.
- The working principle of the policy
The policy has a straightforward working process. If the policy has a sum insured of say Rs. 10 lakh and any one member covered under the plan got hospitalized. Then, you can make a claim for a maximum of Rs. 10 lakhs in that year. But the claim amount used would impact the other members of the plan as well. For instance, if the claim amount was Rs. 6 lakhs, then the other members would have a protection cover of Rs. 4 lakhs only. If the entire amount got used, there would no cover for the other members.
- Calculation of the premium amount
The premium amount of a family floater is calculated in a different manner than an individual plan. A few factors determining it are the number of members covered, the age of the eldest member as well as the age of each family member, the sum insured, pre-existing diseases for any member if present and all other factors on which a health insurance premium is calculated.
- Inclusions in the plan
There are different types of family floaters available in the market today that offer you a range of facilities. A few common facilities offered by most family insurance plans include pre and post hospitalization costs, inpatient hospitalization, daycare treatments, alternative treatments to a specified limit, pre-existing diseases after a waiting period, ambulance expenditure, etc.
- Exclusions in the plan
Most plans exclude conditions like self-inflicted injuries, cosmetic treatments, mental treatments, participation in hazardous activities, etc. All inclusions and exclusions are mentioned in detail in the fine print of the plan. Hence it is important that you read and understand it well before you commit to the policy.
- Add-ons
Just like you can buy extra protection in an individual plan; you can do the same in a family floater. The most common feature is the add-ons for critical illness, maternity benefit for those looking to planning a child in the future, organ transplant hospitalization cost, etc. You can also extend the sum insured coverage by taking a top-up plan. The plan becomes available to you at a nominal cost.
Final words
A family health insurance plan offers numerous advantages for you both financially and mentally. But it has its limitations too and must be purchased after careful investigation and thought. If you are thinking of including your parents under it, it is viable only if they are below 45 to 50 years of age. If they are older, then it’s best not to include them under the plan and buy a separate policy for them. It would prove more effective.
It will only be an ideal solution if you are selecting it after considerable thought and investigation and is proving beneficial for your family.
