Top-up medical insurance adds an extra layer of financial protection to your existing health insurance policy. It provides extra coverage when your base policy’s sum insured is exhausted, or your medical expenses exceed the available coverage.
If you feel your current health insurance coverage will not be sufficient to meet the rising healthcare costs, a top-up health plan can be a practical way to increase your overall protection.
What is Top-Up Medical Insurance?
In simple terms, a top-up medical insurance plan enhances your existing health insurance policy. By acting as a financial cushion, it helps cover all eligible medical expenses that exceed the specified deductible, subject to the policy terms and conditions.
Here are some of the key features of top-up medical insurance that you need to know:
- Deductible Clause: The top-up limit becomes active only after all the medical bills cross the deductible limit.
- Compatibility: Top-ups can be added to both family and individual plans
- Affordable Premiums: Top-up plans mostly come with deductibles; therefore, their premiums are usually lower than standard health insurance plans.
Best Top-up Health Insurance Plans in India
There are several insurance companies offering top-up plans with diverse coverage options and deductibles. Therefore, comparing their key features can help you choose a plan that perfectly suits your budget and medical needs.
Bajaj General Insurance offers health insurance top up plans with entry age 18 to 30 years for adults, 3 months to 25 years for dependent children. It is available as a rider plan. Some of the important features of these plans include Cashless medical insurance and AYUSH hospitalisation cover.
How Does Top-Up Medical Insurance Work?
Top-up medical insurance is a type of secondary policy which steps in to cover medical costs once your medical expenses cross a specific threshold, which is known as a deductible.
If you are still in doubt as to how top-up works in health insurance, let’s learn with an example:
For instance, your health insurance policy is ₹5 lakh, and you have a top-up plan with a ₹5 lakh deductible. Suppose, due to an unfortunate event, you were admitted, and your hospital bill is ₹8 lakh. During that time, your base policy will only cover ₹5 lakh.
What about the remaining ₹3 lakh? It may not be possible to pay such a hefty amount suddenly out of your own pocket. This is when a top-up plan steps in; it covers the remaining ₹3 lakh. These are subject to the policy terms and conditions.
How to Select a Right Top-Up Medical Insurance Plan?
Choosing the right top-up medical insurance plan goes far beyond looking for the premium. While choosing, make sure you are considering the deductibles, policy terms, coverage, claim process and more to ensure that the plan offers adequate financial protection.
- Check the Deductibles: Always choose a deductible which you can manage comfortably through your savings and existing health insurance policy.
- Review the Sum Insured: Look for the coverage amount which perfectly matches your medical and healthcare needs.
- Check the Exclusions: Ensure that you are reading the policy documents to understand what is not covered in your plan.
- Check the Claim Process: Look for insurers with straightforward claim processes like Bajaj General Insurance and a wide network of cashless hospitals.
Final Thoughts
Top-up medical insurance may be a good solution for augmenting your insurance protection with minimal premiums on top of a high base plan. Take into account all important parameters and make the right choice of plan according to your needs.