Should I opt for health top-ups in my 40s?
Brife:Your health insurance premium increases, especially if the sum covered is large and you have certain medical conditions.
You would have heard health is wealth, but as you move ahead in your 40s, this proverb becomes more realistic. In your 40s, you are more susceptible to the possibility of critical illnesses compared to your 20s and 30s. This increases your medical expenses, and if you haven’t planned for this uncertainty beforehand, it can drain your savings and investments. Thus, you not only require health insurance but adequate health insurance coverage.
As you grow older, your health insurance premium increases, especially if the sum covered is large and you have certain medical conditions.
However, a great solution here is to get top-up insurance on your/employer-provided health insurance. Here is everything you need to understand about this and its benefits.
What is a health top?
A health insurance top-up plan is additional coverage you purchase on your existing insurance plan. Often if your health insurance coverage limit is exhausted, the difference has to be paid by you. A health top-up plan is one of the most viable solutions to avoid such a scenario since the insurance company covers the difference. Health top-ups are low-cost alternative plans to large-sum health policies. You have to choose a deductible amount. If the medical bills exceed this threshold, they will be covered by the top-up plan.
Your existing health insurance Rs. 10 lakh Health top-up insurance Rs. 30 lakh Health top-up deductible Rs. 10 lakh Medical bill Rs. 20 lakhInsurers offer two types of restoration benefits — complete exhaustion or partial exhaustion. In the former, the benefit will be applicable only when the entire sum insured is exhausted. In the latter, it kicks in even after a part exhaustion of the sum insured.
Points to check
Check the terms and conditions on the restoration of the sum insured for related as well as non-related illness for the same cover, before deciding on the restoration benefit. See if it is an add-on which you can buy with the policy, and if two or more members of your family suffering with the same disease can claim for restoration benefit. .Make sure you have a family health insurance cover of at least Rs 15-20 lakh. This should be in addition to any corporate health insurance coverage that you already have.
If buying a large cover is not feasible, then purchase a smaller base plan and enhance it with a super top-up policy. For instance, you can buy a Rs 5 lakh base cover and then a top-up policy of, say, Rs 20 lakh.