Floater plans can secure health of the whole family
NEW DELHI: An event of sickness can often be daunting if one does not have a proper healthcare policy; this awareness has driven most people to adopt a healthcare policy. But, what if one wants to go beyond individual policies, and insure one’s whole family? With floater plans, this is not impossible.
Floater plans allow one to have a collective policy for the whole family. The insured sum floats among all those covered, so that if any one person needs medical attention, the collective amount can be used.
With the cost of healthcare rising, it is advisable to have an individual as well as floater plan, but experts say if one is young enough, floaters alone can do.
“A family floater plan is more cost effective than an individual cover. The sum insured in a family floater can be opted for a higher value when compared to an individual cover. There are less chances of it falling short in case an insured member is hospitalised,” said Ashish Mehrotra, MD & CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance. He said it is advised to review your policy every 2-3 years and revise the cover based on the family’s changing needs such as marriage and, childbirth.
A quick research shows if you are 30 years old, you and your spouse can avail a floater health cover of Rs 5 lakh from annual premiums starting around Rs 8,000. The premium of Max Bupa Health Companion product (cover amount of Rs 10 lakh) with the eldest member aged 30 (two adults with one kid) residing in Delhi is Rs 18,165 (including 18 per cent tax).
The new products in the market are giving health insurance collectively to large families as well. Royal Sundaram’s ‘Family Plus — The 5G Health Insurance Plan’ covers upto 19 members with an individual sum insured for each and a floater sum insured that can be used by any of the family members.
“With serious ailments like heart attacks, cancers and organ failures are on the rise, there is need for a substantial cover amount. The Family Plus policy has the best characteristics of the two policies,”said Nikhil Apte, Chief Product Officer, Royal Sundaram General Insurance.
Apte explains that a family consisting of husband, wife, two children and two parents can buy Family Plus with Rs 5 lakh of individual sum insured and Rs 15 lakh of floater sum insured at family level. They will actually have a cover of Rs 45 lakh, i.e, 6xRs 5 lakh = Rs 30 lakh + Rs 15 lakh of common sum insured. The product has No Claim Bonus benefit, which increases the individual sum insured by 20 per cent every year up to 100 per cent of the sum insured.
However, in many circumstances, individual covers are preferred. If you’re a single person without dependents, you should opt for an individual plan where you alone are covered. Similarly, in case of aging parents, it is advised to go for individual covers.
“In a family floater plan, the age of the eldest member is considered for calculating premium. As there is high probability that an elderly member may fall ill more often, not only would the overall premium be on a higher side, but also the sum insured might be utilised by the single member surpassing or meeting the cap, thus rendering the members unable to avail the policy benefits,” Mehrotra said.