Health insurance in 2022 is nothing less than a necessity. Not having one puts you at a risk of medical emergencies sweeping away all your hard-earned savings. While a financial backup is essential to manage medical treatments effectively, it is not always easy to determine how much health coverage will be required in the future. Hence, many buyers often purchase a policy without keeping in mind that the sum assured will not increase at the same rate of medical inflation.
A policy that provides inadequate cover will often result in a situation where you need to dip in your savings to fund medical emergencies. This entire act of using your savings to fund medical emergencies defeats the purpose of a medical insurance cover. Thus, you must choose sufficient coverage when buying a health insurance policy. While it can be difficult to estimate the exact amount of sum insured that you will require, a top-up policy is what helps as your age and the treatment costs increase. *
But what is a top-up cover?
A top-up plan is a policy that is either available as a standalone policy or one that can be used in combination with your existing health cover. When combined with your already existing insurance plan, it helps enhance the sum assured of the policy to a higher amount helping you cover any additional treatment costs over and above the base sum assured. Alternatively, top-up plans can also be bought as standalone plans. *
Here are some pointers to remember when buying a top-up plan:
- When buying a top-up plan, you must know that each top-up cover has a specified amount of mandatory deductible. This deductible is what you need to pay only after which the policy compensates for the treatment costs. Hence, when used in combination with a base insurance plan, the deductible must be chosen wisely to match the sum assured of your base insurance policy. This way, there is a continuity in coverage one after the other. *
- The top-up plans can be used only after the base coverage is exhausted, in case used with one. For instance, you have a plan with ₹5 lakhs coverage and a top-up policy of ₹9 lakhs with a ₹5 lakhs of deductible. In this case, only after the base plan is exhausted, the top-up coverage will come into the picture. *
- Top-up plans are a smart choice to continue receiving your current policy benefits and increase your sum assured. For a pocket friendly price, you can avail enhanced insurance cover as compared to a situation where you would buy a fresh plan with the larger sum assured. *
- When you purchase a top-up plan smartly, you can continue to enjoy your existing policy benefits like cashless health insurance, pre and post-hospitalisation cover, daycare procedures, etc. for the incremental sum assured. *
When selecting the different top-up plans, make sure to analyse what kind of top-up cover fits your requirements. For instance, a top-up plan can be used for a single case of hospitalisation whereas a super top-up plan can be used for multiple treatments in a single period. When you compare health insurance covers, only then you will know what fits your requirements. *
* Standard T&C Apply
Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.