Health insurance riders and their relevance

There is enough emphasis on the importance of medicare, especially after the spread of a devastating pandemic. Several initiatives are being taken by insurance regulators, insurance service providers, brokers and online insurance aggregators aimed at educating and publicizing health insurance, its benefits and methods of purchasing the right one. health insurance plan for you and your family to be financially protected in the event of a medical emergency. But there’s also less emphasis on endorsements that come with all kinds of health insurance plans, including individual, family, critical illness, etc.

Indeed, comprehensive health insurance plans are designed in a compact way and offer a wide range of services such as drugs, diagnostic tests, medical consultations, hospital costs, ambulances, daycare costs, etc. However, insurance is a highly personalized product that people like to customize to meet their own requirements. Although it is quite impossible to integrate all kinds of services into one plan for monetary reasons and more. There are additional jumpers designed that individuals can purchase to meet additional needs for medical assistance at their own expense.

It is often recalled that these additional endorsements are additional expenses because they come with an additional cost that could make a health insurance plan expensive. But in reality, these endorsements are designed to provide additional coverage to the policyholder. And these jumpers can be immensely useful and helpful when selected with proper reasoning and relevance. To make the right selection of riders, it is crucial to understand what these riders are supposed to offer and who should be buying them so that they can further strengthen their comprehensive coverage plan and get the most out of the extra money spent on these riders. riders.

So let’s understand the relevance of each rider and who should buy them.

Room rent exemption: Health insurance companies have a clause on the cost of renting a hospital room, commonly known as a sub-ceiling, which is paid by the insurance company. And in the event that the cost of renting the room exceeds the sub-limit, the policyholder must pay additional expenses out of his own pocket. However, the Room Rent Waiver Rider helps increase or circumvent the sub-limit imposed on hospital room rental charges by insurance.

Who should buy it: This rider effectively removes the burden of the room rental fee if it exceeds the sub-limit. This rider helps you to take a room of your choice, including private and deluxe, without paying any additional fees. So, if the policy is underwritten for an elderly person or someone with a serious illness that may require a longer hospital stay, then they may consider purchasing this rider to completely eliminate the risk of out-of-pocket expenses. Moreover, people who like their privacy can opt for this jumper to select a private room of their choice without feeling the burden.

Daily hospital cash: Hospitalization means the patient cannot go to a job or business that results in loss of income. This additional rider provides a daily allowance to the policyholder during his stay in hospital. There is a certain amount predefined by the insurance companies that the policyholder is likely to receive.

What to buy: The Hospital Daily Cash Rider is similar to the daily income that the insured receives when they are unable to work and support their family financially. This rider helps the policyholder to manage daily expenses in lieu of income. People who depend on a daily salary or who are the sole breadwinner can opt for this jumper so that their family does not suffer when they are hospitalized.

Consumables protection cover: This is a new rider designed to meet the expense of modern processing requirements. This rider covers expenses related to consumables or single-use equipment such as gloves, PPE kits, surgical items, etc. which are generally not covered by the comprehensive health insurance plan.

What to buy: This jumper was designed in the wake of COVID-19 where the need for consumables has increased dramatically. Since such items are frequently required in processing and can damage the pocket of the insurance holder. Thus, this jumper helps to reduce pocket expenses. People who travel for work or leisure and who may be at risk of COVID-19 infection may consider purchasing this jumper to avoid any type of medical expense.

BCN protection: The Non-Claim Bonus (PNE) is a benefit granted to the policyholder when no claim is raised during the insurance year, in the form of additional coverage or a reduction on the premium. or an addition of additional sum insured. If the policyholder makes use of a health insurance claim, the no-claim bonus is canceled. However, this no-claims protection rider ensures that the policyholder gets the no-claims bonus even when the medical claim is raised by the policyholder.

What to buy: The NCB protection can be taken by a person who knows that they will have to claim due to their medical condition and that they will have to forfeit their bonus. However, with this rider, the person can take advantage of the claim as well as the bonus when the policy is renewed.

Inflation rider: Inflation is inevitable and occurs every year, including in the medical field, which means that the prices of medical services increase with market inflation. Inflation in the medical field can make treatment difficult for policyholders to manage, but this inflation rider helps manage funds for expensive treatments. This rider increases the insured amount on an annual basis with the inflation rate per consumer index.

What to buy: This rider helps policyholders ensure that their existing policy remains sufficient for rising inflation over the long term by automatically increasing the sum insured. With this rider, the policyholder does not have to purchase new health insurance and go through paperwork or a medical examination for a new plan with a higher sum insured. People with floating family health insurance plans can take advantage of this rider to ensure that the insured amount is increased to meet future medical requirements.

Personal Accident Rider: Under this rider, a policyholder can protect himself against accidents related to an accident where the policyholder pays for the treatment of the accident from his own savings. The rider pays a lump sum either to the policyholder or to the agent who can be used by them either for medical treatment or for personal expenses in the event of loss of income.

What to buy: This rider provides additional coverage with the health insurance plan. People with work or personal interests involving travel can certainly consider this endorsement for additional financial coverage in the form of a lump sum that can be used for medical or non-medical purposes.

Critical Illness Jumper: Although a comprehensive health insurance plan helps to obtain coverage for critical illness treatments, there are certain sub-limits that apply in the basic plan. Wherein, the critical illness rider provides additional coverage where policyholders receive a lump sum when they are diagnosed with critical illness.

What to buy: As serious illnesses can be financially distressing and mentally depressing, especially when the patient cannot really take care of his job and ends up losing his income. Thus, this rider works as an income replacement as the policyholder can use the money either for treatment or for personal use. People who may be affected by serious illnesses, either because of their family history of serious illnesses or because of their lifestyle, can opt for this rider.

Conclusion

Endorsements can certainly come at an additional cost, but they can save the policyholder from large expenses which can become your out-of-pocket expenses. So choose riders with full knowledge of the facts to make your health insurance plan complete and save yourself in the event of a medical crisis.

(The author is the founder and CEO of PolicyX.com)

Posted on: Sunday January 02, 2022, 7:00 a.m. IST