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Starting your family is a wonderful milestone, one that you have been looking forward to for a long time. But there is a lot you need to prepare for before you can welcome your little one into the world. Alongside the other factors like housing and education, there is an important aspect that can get lost - financial stability for unforeseen circumstances. With the rising costs of healthcare, getting a health insurance policy has become a vital move today. By investing in a health insurance policy on time, you can ensure uncompromised treatment quality and maternity benefits without worrying about the costs. 

There are a number of health insurance policies available in the market today; many of which offer maternity benefits at an affordable rate. While these plans sound like the perfect solution, the downside to them is the waiting period listed on them. For many of these policies that cover maternity benefits, the waiting period listed is anywhere between 2 to 4 years. Since this is a much longer time period than what most couples expect, they generally drop their plans to buy the health insurance policy and look for other alternatives. 

Importance Of Getting Health Insurance Policy With Maternity Benefits. 

Your new landmark occasion calls for a number of preparations. The first among them is financial planning that is sorely needed at this stage of life. In order to get the best healthcare services, you have to select a plan with suitable maternity benefits. This makes it absolutely crucial that you find the right health insurance policy, especially since costs of maternity care are very high in India. 

The health insurance policy you pick will be responsible for helping you have a safe pregnancy. You can ensure its success by picking a plan that offers assistance with a number of healthcare expenses like pre-hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation, delivery costs, ambulance expenses, and any other medical expenses associated with an infant. 

Maternity Insurance Policy with No Waiting Period. 

The ideal scenario would be to find a health insurance policy that offers maternity benefits with no waiting period. Regrettably, there are no such plans available in the market today. Instead, maternity health insurance policies have a waiting period that could range between 9 months to 6 years.9 months is the least amount of waiting time you can find for health insurance policies with maternity benefits in the country. That is why it is crucial that you plan for the financial aspect in advance, as it will be both beneficial and necessary at the time of delivery.

Does the Waiting Period Vary Depending upon the Insurance Plan? 

The reason why insurance companies do not provide health insurance policies with no waiting period is because they consider pregnancy as a pre-existing condition. Most pre-existing conditions are considered to be beyond coverage in the case of insurance. That is the reason why a health insurance policy with maternity benefits is only available with a waiting period. In general, most health insurance plans have a basic waiting period of 30 days to activate, but in the case of pre-existing conditions, this period may stretch to upwards of 2 years. This can also change from company to company. 

Ways to Reduce The Waiting Period.  

A number of health insurance companies offer a way to reduce the waiting period in the health insurance policy by paying an extra premium. In case you are dependent on a plan provided by your employers, you can switch from the group health insurance policy to an individual health insurance policy after exiting your company. With this move, you can completely eliminate the waiting period. 

Looking out for your family and loved ones is something that requires some amount of planning done in advance. And when it comes to welcoming the future generations of your family, there is no stone unturned in your quest to provide the best. 

That is why make sure you start preparing well in advance by buying the right health insurance policy that offers maternity benefits in time for your requirements. If you need help deciding which plan to buy, or need more information, visit Coverfox - one of India’s leading insurance broking portals. Here, you can explore plans by more than 40 companies and make the best decision for your loved ones.

Here are a few points to consider before renewing your car insurance plan.

Cashless mediclaim policy is a service offered by a number of insurance providers in the country. This service presents users with a convenient solution to protect themselves against the ever-growing medical expenses in the event of hospitalisation, without having to suffer any out-of-pocket expenses. 

For this feature, insurance providers collaborate with a number of hospitals across the country to activate the cashless facility. These partner hospitals are also known as ‘network hospitals’. When you go for treatment at any of these network hospitals, your insurance provider steps in to settle all your medical bills directly. 

In the event of a medical emergency, cashless mediclaim policy plays a huge role in relieving stress by giving you complete financial assistance. It is an easier process than dealing with reimbursements where you need to pay your medical bills first out of your pocket and then get them reimbursed from your insurance company.

Types Of Cashless Mediclaim Policies In India:

There are a number of cashless mediclaim policies available in the country today. These include:

Individual cashless mediclaim policy:

This type of cashless mediclaim policy offers financial assistance to the individual that has purchased the policy. A specific amount of medical coverage is provided as per the insurance plan which can be claimed for hospitalization expenses whenever needed.

Family floater cashless mediclaim policy:

This type of cashless mediclaim policy offers cover for all members of the family a single policy with one fixed sum insured. This financial assistance provided under the family floater policy can be used by the insured members for hospitalisation expenses during the policy term.

Senior citizen cashless mediclaim policy:

This type of cashless mediclaim policy provides financial assistance for senior citizens. The senior citizen cashless mediclaim policy is curated to assist in handling of their hospitalisation expenses at the most crucial stages.

Challenges Related To Cashless Mediclaim Plan:

While the cashless mediclaim policy system is a great advancement in the insurance sector, there are still a few kinks that need to be ironed out. Some of the challenges associated with opting for this feature include :

Unavailability of network hospitals: 

To get the benefit of using the cashless mediclaim service, you need to go to only those hospitals registered as a network hospital. That is why you need to be aware of all the hospitals on this list, otherwise you can face trouble during a medical emergency.

Partial claim settlement: 

In some cases, the insurance company only provides part of the payment in the form of cashless settlement. The rest is left for reimbursement, which means you have to pay out of your pocket to cover the rest of the expenses during the emergency.

Time taken to process the claim: 

In some emergency cases, you need to get an approval from a Third Party Administrator, which could put your claim on hold. This can only get financial assistance once they give you the go-ahead to facilitate cashless mediclaim. At these times, you can be asked by the insurance company to bear the cost at first, and get it reimbursed later.

Exclusions: 

There are a number of treatment expenses that are not covered under your medical insurance. This could include things like registration fees, diet and toiletries charges, documentation expenses, dental procedures and more. That is why you need to carefully go through all the terms and conditions of your plan while buying it, so you do not get shocked later. 

IDV in bike insurance means the insured declared value of the vehicle. It is an important factor to consider before purchasing a two-wheeler insurance plan. IDV determines the amount of reimbursement that the policyholder will receive towards repair/replacement expenses in case of total damage to the motorbike. In case of total loss due to an accident or theft, the insurer will provide fixed sum insured as compensation to the policyholder. For example, if the IDV of your motorbike is Rs. 50,000, the bike insurer will disburse a maximum amount of Rs. 50,000 in case of theft of your bike.

The value of your motorbike begins depreciating from the time of purchase. Your insurance premium is directly proportional to the IDV of your car. Thus, as your vehicle becomes older, the premium will reduce. If the IDV is low, the premium will also be low.

The IDV is calculated on the following parameters:

Depreciation

AGE OF VEHICLE                ->   % DEPRECIATION FOR CALCULATING IDV

Not exceeding 6 months                                  -> 5%

Exceeding 6 months but less than 1 year       -> 15%

Exceeding 1 year but less than 2 years           -> 20%

Exceeding 2 years but less than 3 years         -> 30%

Exceeding 3 years but less than 4 years         -> 40%

Exceeding 4 years but less than 5 years         -> 50%

Manufacturer, make, and model of the motorbike

Details of motorbike registration, including the city of registration

Date of registration of your motorbike

Whether it is a personal motorbike or one owned by a corporation

Cubic capacity and ex-showroom price of the motorbike

How to Calculate Insured Declared Value?

The formula to derive the actual insured declared value of your motorbike is:

Insured Declared Value = (Company’s listed price – the depreciation value) + (Cost of vehicle accessories - the depreciation value of these parts)

You can also calculate the insured declared value of your motorbike using an online IDV calculator. It is simple, easy to understand and completely free to use.

A Few Points to Consider before Calculating IDV

Always provide a correct valuation of IDV.

IDV is the maximum compensation you will receive in case of total loss or theft of your motorbike.

The right declaration value will smoothen the claims process.

Assess the premium cost and check if it has been carefully evaluated on the basis of your bike’s IDV.

Ensure that the cost of premium is determined on the basis of IDV.

No-Claim Bonus (NCB)

No-Claim Bonus is a discount in premium offered by insurance providers to policyholders who have not made a single claim during the term of the two wheeler insurance policy. It is applicable during the time of renewal. A No-Claim Bonus can also be transferred from the older to the newer motorbike. Also, an NCB can be transferred to another insurance company as well.

With rising health costs in the country, many average middle class families are left worried. One single admission in the hospital can completely drain one of their savings. Hence, many are looking for economical ways to deal with medical issues, without burning a hole in their pockets. One such method is getting a health insurance. A health insurance plan financially secures you from hefty medical expenses.

Despite the advantages of health insurance plan, the task of yearly renewal can prove to be cumbersome. Therefore, to make this process hassle-free and reduce the burden of yearly renewal, many insurance companies offer long-term health insurance policies. Long term health insurance plans are health plans that are valid for 2 to 3 years and are loaded with various benefits. Some of them are listed below-

No Worries about Renewal

The first and the most obvious reasons of having a long term health insurance plan is to do away with yearly renewals. Once you buy a long term insurance, you are free from worrying about renewing the policy for the next 2-3 years. On the flipside, in a usual health insurance plan, you would have to set aside some money for a yearly renewal and forfeit of payment would result in cancellation of policy.

Less Paperwork

While it usual duration of a long term health insurance plan is 2 to 3 years, it may vary from one insurer to another. A Long term health plan is not only a viable option, but also plays an important role in significantly reducing the paperwork involved.

Decreased Rate of Premium

With increase in medical care expenses every year, the biggest reason why people are switching to long term health insurance plans are fixed premium rates. If the lock-in period of the health insurance plan is 2 or 3 years, the insurance policy becomes immune to any revision rate. Therefore, in the long run, you also get a discounted rate on the premium amount.

Health Protection

Considering the increased cost of health care services, it is wise to have a health insurance policy that will help you get the best health care services when you need it the most, without worrying of the cost involved. A long term health insurance plan protects for a period of 2 to 3 years, thereby keeping you tension free from rising medical expenses.

In a Nutshell