Five optional health covers you
should consider

While reading about insurance you will often come across a term called Rider. A lot of insurance experts believe that the best health insurance policies are the ones which give a lot of rider options to the customers. You will also see health insurance companies advertising how riders give a lot of flexibility to the customer. But what is a rider in a health insurance contract and why do some experts think that they are so useful? While this is a topic on which we spend hours with our customers evaluating what health insurance riders are best for them and their families, a brief introduction is presented below.

First let’s begin by understanding the term. Insurance is a legal contract between the insured (i.e. the customer) and the health insurance company. Any addition made to a contract over and above the pre-existing terms and conditions is called a rider. It is an additional cover over and above your base health covers. Please note that a rider in any contract is not valid if the base contract expires. That applies to health covers and riders too. They are applicable only till the time your health insurance policy is in force. In layman terms you should think about riders as toppings on a pizza. They add flavor and excitement to your pizza but they need the base pizza to be effective. And just like you cannot buy pizza from one place and add toppings from other, health covers and riders can only be added to your health insurance policy by your insurance company.

 

Now that you know what a rider is, lets explain to you how judicious use of these riders can make a generic health insurance policy into the best health insurance policy for you and your family. Riders are best used when you want to make an addition to your health insurance policy. For example, you might have the best health insurance policy in the country by the best insurance company in the country, however it will pay only against your bills. It will not cover expenses like cab fare, nutrition cost etc., which don’t figure in the hospital bill. Get a fixed benefit daily hospitalization rider added to your policy to cover such expenses. Does your policy cover your new born from day one? If not, add maternity cover and you can rest assured. If a person is hospitalized due to a serious illness, sure your health insurance policy might cover the bills inside the hospital and you will recover. But what about the loss of earnings during this period? Buy a critical illness rider and add it your policy. In essence a rider gives you flexibility to extend the functionality of your base health insurance products.

But if a person wants the extra coverage why not buy another health insurance policy. There are two reasons to avoid this. First is that for same sum assured riders are cheaper than an independent policy. This is because a lot of administrative costs (selling, accounts, communication etc) are saved for the health insurance company. These costs are a big part of the premium and the best health insurance companies pass most of the savings to the customer. The other is convenience of having all the coverage under one health insurance policy for the customer. However, there is an important aspect you need to know about riders. The amount of coverage or sum assured that you can avail under a rider is limited. Normally the maximum sum assured that can be bought under a rider cannot be more than underlying health insurance policy. For example, a person having a health insurance policy of 10 lacs cannot buy a critical illness rider of Rs 25 lacs. In case any customer wants to have substantial coverage, we advise them to look at buying an independent health insurance policy.

Now that you know what are riders, what are their benefits and where you can (or cannot) use them, let’s take a look at the most commonly purchased health insurance riders:

1. Critical Illness rider which gives additional protection against common critical illnesses like cancer, cardiac misfunction etc. Typically, these cover 10 ,15, 20 or 30 diseases which are listed. Sometimes there can be riders which cover a single disease like cancer.

2. Maternity rider which gives cover to the child and the mother for both pre and postnatal expenses. (Natal means relating to time or place of birth). This rider is useful for customers whose policy does not cover maternity cases or covers the new born child after a certain period.

3. Accidental hospitalization and/or Death riders cover the customer against hospitalization expenses which occur from accidents. Normally death is not covered by health insurance. However, one exception this is death due to accidents.

4. Daily Hospital Cash Rider pays a fixed sum of money for every day a patient is hospitalized, irrespective of the actual expense. For example, if the daily hospital cash coverage is INR 5,000 per day and the patient is hospitalized for 7 days the rider will pay the patient Rs 35000 (7X 5000) irrespective of the actual expense incurred or the claim amount paid under base policy.

5. Surgical Cash rider This rider pays a fixed amount to the patient for listed surgeries irrespective of the actual expense. For example, take a patient with a base health insurance policy with sum assured of 10 lacs and a surgery cash rider which insure the customer for Rs 5 lacs for their bypass surgery. The patient undergoes the surgery in a state hospital where this expense comes to only Rs 2 lacs. Now their base insurance policy will cover them for Rs 2 lacs and surgical cash rider will pay them an extra 5 lacs irrespective of the fact that the actual expense was much lesser.

These are some of the common riders. However, this list is by no means an exhaustive one. The type and kind of riders varies by the company and the products, and thousands of combinations are possible. It is for you to consult with your insurance advisor and figure out which health insurance rider suits you the best.

Conclusion

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With trusted partners nationwide, CarePal Secure ensures that quality healthcare is always within reach. So what are you waiting for? Join 80,000+ satisfied customers who trust CarePal Secure for their healthcare needs.

Get in touch with us to know the right plan for you.