Important Riders You Must Add to Your Health Insurance Policy

There is no denying that health insurance policy is a must-have for all. The fact that medical inflation is rising every year, it would be impossible for you to get quality medical care during an emergency without a robust health insurance policy at your disposal.

Health insurance helps you get financial protection against medical emergencies that may occur without any warning. It helps you and your family get the best treatment possible without worrying about the cost or depleting your years of hard-earned savings.

When you buy medical health insurance online, you may compare the different plans and choose the one that best suits your needs and budget. However, sometimes, even the best of policies may not provide sufficient coverage. It may not cover specific risks that you may be vulnerable to. So, to cover such risks and get extensive coverage, you can consider buying health insurance riders or add-ons.

What Are Riders in Health Insurance?

In simple terms, riders or add-ons in health insurance are additional coverage options that you can voluntarily opt to enhance the coverage of your basic plan. You can buy any number of riders you want. However, you must know that you need to pay an additional premium for each rider you purchase.
Buying a rider is the most cost-effective way to cover risks that are not otherwise covered.

Let us look at the important add-ons you must with your health insurance

Maternity Cover

When you buy health insurance at a young age, you may not buy maternity cover. However, later, when you get married, you must have it. As the name suggests, this rider provides coverage against expenses during childbirth after the waiting period is over.

Generally, the waiting period for maternity cover is 3 years from inception of the cover. Some insurance policy also give you the option to cover new-born under the cover from the birth until the policy matures, and cover all childcare expenses, including vaccination.

Hospital Daily Cash Allowance

The daily cash allowance rider allows you to get daily cash to take care of medical expenses while you are admitted to the hospital. This amount acts as compensation for the loss of pay during hospitalisation.

You get specified amout daily from from day one if your hospitalisation period extend for at least three consecutive days.

Critical illness cover

Critical illness (CI) refers to life-threatening conditions like cancer, tumour, kidney failure, heart attack, etc. Some insurance companies cover specific critical illnesses under the basic plan. However, it is advisable to purchase a critical illness add-on to get additional financial protection.

Under CI cover, the insurance companies pay the sum assured in lump sum, irrespective of the actual treatment cost if you are diagnosed with any CI covered under the plan. You can use the amount for paying medical bills and personal purposes.

Restoration Benefit

100% of your base sum insured will be restored once in a policy year if the sum insured and the cumulative bonus is insufficient because of the claim filed in the previous year. In the event of accident-related claims, the restoration benefit will be applicable from the first claim onwards.

You can use the restored amount for all the future claims that are not related to the same illness for which you earlier filed a claim.

Cumulative Bonus Benefit

If you have not filed for any claim in a policy year, you can get a cumulative bonus of up to 10% per year during renewal. You can earn a cumulative bonus up to 50% to 100% of the sum insured as per the type of plan you have chosen.

Final Word

Although buying a rider may increase the health insurance premium, they help you get a more comprehensive coverage. And, if you compare the premium amount versus the coverage you get, riders are extremely cost-effective, and you can save a lot of money on the treatment expenses.

The key to getting the most out of the health insurance riders is assessing your specific needs and choosing the right kind of riders. If you are buying a health insurance policy from Kotak General Insurance, you can get in touch with our customer support team to know about the different riders, their features and the premium amount. To know more about our various health insurance policies, visit our website.

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