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Insurance to your wealth and well being..!!

Health Plans offer financial security to meet health-related contingencies. Due to changing lifestyles, health-related issues have not just escalated, but they have increasingly become more complex in nature. It becomes imperative therefore to have a health insurance plan in place, to ensure that no matter how critical your illness, it does not impair your financial independence.

In the race to excel in our professional lives and provide the best for our loved ones, we sometimes neglect our most important asset – our health and in effect our lives. With increasing levels of stress, negligible physical activity and a deteriorating environment due to rapid urbanization, our vulnerability to diseases has increased at an alarming rate.

Evidently, lifestyle diseases are set to rise to distressing levels. The result is increased expenditure as also contingent expenditures, meaning being jolted by a financial shock when you least expect it. In many cases, people are forced to borrow money or sell assets to cover their medical expenses.

This can be negotiated easily with health insurance plans.

By opting for a medical insurance policy or critical illness insurance rider you can ensure your health never gets in the way of your finances. All you need is the financial discipline to pay marginal amount as premium, which is a small price to pay to keep your health and finances in order. There is a popular saying about health insurance: “Buy health insurance when you don’t want it, because you may not get it when you want it.”

Currently, the majority of the salaried professionals are provided health insurance cover by their organizations. The majority of the employees are increasingly dependent on such health insurance cover to counter their health contingencies. However, they often fail to assess their health insurance requirements and don’t realize the benefits. It is advised that professionals opt for personal health insurance cover as well.

The following points signify the importance of personal health insurance cover.

1.  Insurance cover provided by your current health insurance plan
Most of the organizations provide a basic health insurance cover. The basic health insurance might cover individuals from minor ailments and provide a decent amount of coverage. However, this amount might often be insufficient in case of a major emergency. It is important that individuals prepare themselves for such major contingencies and make a provision through adequate health insurance cover.

2.  Validity of your health insurance provided by your organization
The validity of the health insurance cover provided by the organization is connected with the time span of your association with the organization. Such health insurance policies lapse once you leave the organization. A potential job change, job loss, and retirement are situations when an individual faces a no health insurance condition. Individuals would then liquidate their savings or assets to meet any medical contingencies. This might affect their budgeting and financial plans they hold for achieving their goals. A personal health Insurance cover is valid as long as the payments are made.

3.  Start early: Benefits of buying health insurance young
Buying a personal health insurance policy is cost-efficient while one is young and free from medical complications. The premium is lower and the policy offers comprehensive coverage in comparison to a policy purchased at an older age. As an individual grows older, the cost of the cover increases and if one develops health issues, the health insurance company tends to exclude pre-existing conditions that defeat the whole purpose of buying health insurance. Most health insurance companies have an upper age limit for the policies, which means one would have limited options after retirement. One can enjoy the benefits of cumulative bonus in the form of no claim benefit if they renew the policy without any claims.

4.  Tax benefit
The icing on the cake by opting for a personal health insurance policy is the tax benefit. Payments made towards health insurance premiums are eligible for tax deductions under section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act. Individuals, less than 65 years of age can claim a deduction of up to Rs 55000 for the health insurance premium paid for themselves, or for their spouse, children or parents. However, it should not be the driving force behind making the decision of taking a personal health insurance policy. The need to improve risk management should be the driving force behind opting for a personal health insurance policy. One should scientifically calculate the amount of health insurance required with the help of a proficient financial advisor and make sure that they are adequately covered.

Critical Illness Inusrance

Critical illness insurance provides a lump-sum payment in-case the policyholder is diagnosed of a health-related condition of a serious nature. Some of these common critical illnesses include:

• Heart attack


• Cancer


• Paralysis


• Coronary artery bypass surgery


• Major organ transplant (e.g. heart, lung, liver, pancreas)
• Stroke and many more

What is Critical Illness Insurance?

Critical illness insurance, also called as a critical illness cover is a product in which the insurance service provider makes a lump sum payout to the policyholder on diagnosis of a specific illness on a predefined list as part of the policy.

What is critical illness?

Critical illness is a health related condition of a serious nature. It can have a debilitating effect on the individual’s lifestyle and can incur considerable treatment cost, apart from loss of income from inability to work.

Who can benefit from the critical illness policy/rider?

The critical illness policy/ rider can be particularly beneficial for individuals who wish to take no chances with certain health conditions, especially if they have a medical history. Also primary breadwinners of families who can ill-afford a hit on their finances from a critical illness are candidates for a critical illness insurance policy. The Critical Illness plan can provide financial security at a time, when the individual would be hard pressed for funds to treat the illness and support his family at the same time.

How to safeguard against critical illness?

A definite way of circumventing the financial loss and inconvenience of a critical illness is by buying a health plan from an insurance company or taking a critical illness rider on a life insurance policy. If the individual is diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses specified in the critical illness rider, he will receive a lump sum payment within a specified number of days. The amount equals the sum assured for the critical illness insurance rider and is different from the basic sum assured/life cover disbursed on death or maturity. The critical illness insurance amount is disbursed whether or not the insured undergoes any treatment. Some insurers as defined by the policy terms and conditions, disburse the amount towards the critical illness rider over and above the sum assured. Other companies deduct the disbursal proceeds from the sum assured, which stands revised post-disbursal.