4 common regrets of health insurance buyers

The burgeoning upper middle class in India and its aspiring lifestyle comes with its own set of side effects. And if studies are to be believed, lifestyle diseases in India are set to rise and have already claimed 5.2 million premature deaths. According to a report by World Health Organisation in 2015, one in four deaths happens because of lifestyle diseases. In fact, the study has also suggested that Indians will be more prone to diseases such as hypertension, heart, high cholesterol conditions among others in the future.

Having said this, we know buying a health cover is imperative. What we don’t know is the common mistakes that one usually makes while buying this cover, thus regretting later.  To help you make a more informed decision, here’s a lowdown on the common regrets you might want to avoid.

Not buying early

This is no news that one should buy a health cover early in their lives. This is so because the younger you are, the lower your premiums would be. We give you a simple example. For a 23-year-old, a cover of Rs 10 lakhs can be bought for a premium of as low as Rs 3,400 annually. On the other hand, for a 35-year-old, Rs 10 lakh cover plans begin at a premium of Rs 14,000 and more, which is 4-5 times of what you may pay if you start early.

Basically, when you are young, you get better offers on health insurance. You get a better cover for diseases and also helps manage your finances better. Most people don’t realise this and thus end up buying a health insurance policy at a later stage.

Not buying adequate cover

You have a life cover of Rs 1 cr and you recently bought a health cover of Rs 2 lakhs. You feel this is enough because you are 30-year-old healthy young man. You work out every day and you do eat well, at least most of the time. You think you are well prepared for the future.

A few years down the line, god forbid, if you are diagnosed with a critical illness or you have any heart surgery, this cover won’t be adequate at all. Today, heart surgeries or treatment for critical illnesses start at a cost of Rs 3 lakh and upwards in specialized hospitals. You can easily end up paying a big fat bill from your own pocket. This medical emergency would be a huge additional cost to the already growing needs of your family (education, dependents etc).

In fact, a study recently stated that, 95% of Indians do not have adequate health cover, which later turns in to a huge financial trauma for the policyholder in the event of medical emergencies.

Not reading the policy document

We understand that insurance is a tricky affair and you may not be understanding half of what your agent has explained to you. But that should not be an excuse to sign a document such as insurance policy without reading the fine-print. For instance, certain insurance plans such as Max Bupa Health Companion have a waiting period of 4 long years before it covers any of the pre-existing ailments of the policyholder. Now, if you have asthama and end up in the hospital because of respiratory problems in the first four years of policy, your insurer won’t be liable to pay anything to you.

Now, if you haven’t read the policy document carefully, this will come as a shock to you as you expected your insurance company to foot whatever hospital bills are generated following the medical emergencies.

Hiding your medical history

Now, a lot of people often say that their insurance claim from their health insurer was denied for reasons not known to them. This cannot be true because an insurer cannot deny your claim unless some facts are hidden from the company. A lot of people hide their medical history in order to get a better cover at a lower premium. Thus, they do not declare any pre-existing illness or medical conditions to the company at the time of buying a health cover. However, in case of medical emergencies, when your documents are submitted for claim and your insurer gets to know of your pre-existing medical conditions, your claim can get denied.

By Yashish Dahiya – CEO & Co-founder, Policybazaar.com