Health insurance policies come with 100s of variations & are very complicated Which one should u buy? Last year,my father was hospitalized The entire bill was covered by my insurer A thread🧵on comprehensive health insurance policy & y u should buy the same? Lets go👇 (1/21)

What is a health insurance policy? In simple words, you pay a premium to an insurance company. The insurance company in return will cover the cost of any unforeseen hospitalization Almost everyone should have a personal health insurance (2/21)

Which health insurance policy to buy? Health insurance policies come with 100s of variations such as:- 🩺Some have co-pay 🩺Some have lower premium 🩺Some have higher new claim bonus 🩺Some have caps on various things So which one to buy? (3/21)

A comprehensive policy:- Buy something known as a comprehensive health policy. As the name suggests buy it is comprehensive in nature with very few exclusions Lets see what these policies mean:- (4/21)

No Room Rent Limit:- Many policies limit the room rent/day to about 1% of the Sum Insured or 2% of the Sum insured! During times of Covid people had no control on the type of room they were given. A comprehensive policy does not have any cap on the room rent limit! (5/21)

Covers ALL daycare procedures- A Day Care Procedure is a medical procedure or surgery that previously required a prolonged hospital stay but with advanced medical science, can now be completed within 24 hours. Some examples are procedures such as dialysis etc (6/21)

No Copay:- Many policies require u to share the hospital bill in a certain proportion before the insurer pays the bill. For eg a 20% co-pay will mean u will need to pay 20% of the bill and rest will be paid by the insurer (7/21)

A comprehensive policy will not have a co-pay! The insurer will cover the entire amount deemed to fit to pay by the insurer. This can really help u during hospitalization from a financial burden. (8/21)

No caps on treatment costs for specific conditions- Some policies come with limits on how much cover will be provided based on specific diseases or treatments. For example, there might be a limit that says - a maximum 1 lakh cover for a particular surgery. (9/21)

Insurers can include such restrictions in the fineprint.(As you never read the fine print) A comprehensive policy will generally not have any such restrictions on such treatments! (10/21)

Pre & Post-Hospitalization cover– These are medical expenses incurred before you are admitted after discharge, it includes diagnostic tests, investigative procedures, follow-up tests, medication, and more. (11/21)

Pre-Existing Diseases – Pre-existing diseases may be covered after a waiting period. It will also provide coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma, after a waiting period of 1-4 years. (12/21)

Restoration Benefit:- Generally, a comprehensive policy will provide u with something known as a restoration Benefit. With this benefit - your sum insured gets replenished, within the same year after you use it for a hospitalization. (13/21)

If you use up a part of (or the entire) sum insured of one hospitalization - the amount is restored, and you will be able to use the plan again for your next hospitalization. Generally, insurers offer this benefit for different diseases. (14/21)

Life Long renewability:- Unlike group policies which can be terminated at anytime or the terms and conditions can be changed A comprehensive policy can be renewed for ur entire policy. Once an insurer enters into the policy. The policy conditions cannot be changed (15/21)

No Claim bonus:- These policies provide something known as a No claim bonus. In the years u don't claim the Sum insured increases by 10-50%. In the years u do claim the Sum assured falls by 10-50%. However, the Sum insured will not fall below the original Sum insured (16/21)

Which insurers offer these comprehensive policies? Most insurers offer these policies:- 🩺Niva Bupa 🩺HDFC Ergo 🩺ICICI Lombard 🩺Star Health (17/21)

Are Comprehensive Policies expensive?:- Since this policy gives complete cover, generally these are amongst the most expensive to buy. The premium can be 1.5x to what a policy without the features of copay may have. (18/21)

When should u buy this policy? Buy it as young as possible. As u grow older and older.....you may have a risk of contracting a disease. Health insurers may not be too keen to offer this policy to u. (19/21)

Conclusion:- Buying a health insurance policy is a must. Even though there are cheaper premium policies available, go for a comprehensive policy. These policies will minimize the amount of money u may have to pay from ur own pocket. (20/21)

Buy these policies as young as possible. As u grow older,you may find the insurer does not want to give y these policies. Buying these policies is like an investment for old age when u will really require health insurance. (21/21)

Confused about insurance? Follow me @AdityaD_Shah as I decode the entire insurance industry! Next we will decipher how much coverage is adequate for health insurance? A good hack to cheap comprehensive health insurance!

Disclaimer:- This is my study Not an Investment Advise Please consult your own investment advisor before investing.