How can a Super Top-Up health insurance plan help you amid rise in medical inflation?

Life is a long and unpredictable journey! Apart from everything good it has in store, it can anytime even take sharp and fatal turns which may leave you physically and financially bruised. Moreover, the challenging lifestyle attributed to extremes such as junk food, stress, lack of physical activity and sleep, has made healthcare one of the major concerns. And if you are not well prepared for any medical emergency, the cost of treatment and skyrocketing medicine prices can wreak havoc with the budget of your family.

According to a recent report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services, among Asian countries in 2021, India had seen the highest medical inflation rate of 14%, followed by China (12%), Indonesia (10%), Vietnam (10%), and the Philippines (9%). It is a wake-up call for all those who have not yet bought health insurance or are underinsured. Considering the rising cost of medical treatment in India, health insurance has become a basic need. Health insurance is your most secured safety net that protects you against financial crises in case you or your family members get hospitalized.

Following the great awareness being spread around health insurance, though the health insurance market in India is growing at a significantly fast pace, there is still a lot of confusion amongst the buyers. While many buy health insurance without adequate sum insured, many even think that the employer provided health insurance is sufficient enough to cover unforeseen medical expenses.

As per a recent report, most of the Indians are least prepared for any medical emergency. At times, the amount of health cover may fall short and one may have to either borrow from friends, colleagues or take a personal loan to clear hospital bills. Therefore, to ensure that the hospital bills are paid in full by the insurer in spite of your basic health insurance plan falling short in meeting the hospital bill amount, you need to have a Super Top-Up plan.

How does a Super Top-Up plan work?

A Super Top-up health insurance plan gives coverage for cumulative medical costs incurred after the deductible limit is crossed. Deductible limit is the threshold amount that the insured either pays from their pocket, or which is paid from the base health insurance policy. Also available with health insurance companies are top up plans but they are different from Super Top-Up plans. Under a Top-Up plan, coverage is for a single claim above the threshold limit (basic sum insured), while in a Super Top-Up plan coverage is for the total of all hospitalization bills above the threshold limit.

How to buy a Super Top-Up plan?

A Super Top-Up policy can be taken with or without a base policy. One can choose to cover the entire family under a single plan i.e. family floater basis or individual basis. You can buy super top-up from your existing insurer or can even opt to get it from any other insurance company. While opting for ST, one must carefully decide the deductible amount. The policyholder may choose to pay the deductible amount either through his base policy or by his own pocket. Super Top-up will pay over & above the deductible.

After the rise of Covid, hospitalization charges have shot up exorbitantly in India. In several cases, medical expenses for patients have reached up to Rs 1 crore. As a result of this increase in inflation, a super top-up plan has become a great means to avoid medical bills from affecting one’s financial stability. A super top-up health plan is a great way to extend the coverage of a base health plan.

The purpose of a super top-up plan is to ensure that you never fall short on medical cover. So, it allows you to raise multiple medical claims while paying just once. Hence, a super top-up health plan is a great way to extend the coverage of a base health plan.

Source : financialexpress