10L or 1 Cr?
How much health insurance coverage is good enough?
A thread.
The following questions answered:
• Why can't I upgrade later?
• 5L, 10L, 50L, or 1 Cr?
• What about 1 Cr covers?
• What if the cover becomes unaffordable?
🙏 Retweet to spread awareness 🙏
First things first. If you are less than 40, remember you are pre-booking a good product today, that may not be available later in the same shape or form, due to old age or illness.
But can't I upgrade later?
Crossing 55/60 yrs of age, one claim, or a disease in the family, and bam, your chances of getting an upgrade go down from 90% to say 20%.
Leaving it to the future does not make sense.
So then, how much health insurance cover should I buy by age 30?
• Taking linear medical inflation of 6%.
• If 3L looks adequate today - you need atleast 16 Lakhs of cover in 30 years.
• Yes, 16 Lakhs!
In the case of a floater, you should buy 2X = 30 Lakhs of coverage.
Would 16L be enough?
Optimistically yes, but realistically: who the f**k knows? The speed at which the world is changing, nobody can really predict what happens in 30 yrs!
Healthcare could become free, or it could become super expensive - no one knows. Then what to do?
Hence I additionally recommend you invest in a parallel healthcare fund too.
This will take care of two things:
• Additional buffer.
• For expenses not covered (in the pandemic, we realized 30-50% of expenses were outside the scope of the policy + OPD, etc.)
What about the 1 Cr. covers?
Premiums are very attractive - too good to be true. Be ready to downgrade if the premiums go up later!
Remember, while an upgrade is dicey, you can always downgrade a cover if it becomes unaffordable
Looking at the evolution of healthcare regulations, I strongly feel that hiking health insurance premiums will get regulated sooner or later.
I am under-insured. How to upgrade right now?
• Contact your insurer well before the renewal date and request for an upgrade?
• You will have to fill forms.
• Do it while you/your family is fit & healthy.
Of course, use Topups to reduce the burden of premium. Our calculations say you can save anywhere close to 30-50% by buying a super topup.
Health declarations made when getting the COVID 19 vaccine. What is the impact on your existing life & health insurance policies?
A quick thread 👇
1/n
Q1. Whether declarations made during the vaccination can be used by insurers?
A. In our view, insurers are unlikely to get access to health info without your consent, unless there is a fraud case. We recommend you make the right declarations to avoid any complications later
2/n
Q2. What if I declare a health condition while taking the COVID19 vaccination that was diagnosed after I bought the insurance policy.
A. Nothing. You don't have to worry about any disease that you suffered after you bought the policy unless you are planning an upgrade.
3/n
Some insurers may, however, have a cap on room category - which means they only allow a particular category of room. If you ever opt for a room above this category, u have to bear the difference and proportionate charges for the entire bill.
2/ **Why was this needed**
Every plan has its own independently designed terms and conditions, especially exclusions. 🙄
It was difficult to understand & compare many of these wordings. This also resulted in unpleasant surprises & grievances during claims.
3/ IRDAI has been taking massive efforts to standardize health insurance products, making them easier to understand and compare, helping reducing confusion and grievances.
Update.
- I email my insurance broker.
- They write an email to the insurance co. official asking for a "payment link."
- Insurance co. official gives a classic response "The below-mentioned policy does not pertain to our office."
I usually don't like to take up a case against a brand. But I am doing it this time - coz, if it can happen with me, I am just imagining people who don't have a clue about insurance.