What is Top-Up Health Plan
Now, we all know how beneficial health insurance is. One medical emergency can wipe out your savings accounts. Having health insurance ensures that this does not happen. Your insurer is your financial safety net. They put forth either all the money or a part of the money for your treatment. Depending on the insurer you choose, you also get a range of covers.
But what if this is not enough? Suppose you bought insurance years ago. Healthcare costs are continually rising. So you no longer feel secure with your sum assured. But you also do not want to buy a whole new insurance plan. In this case, you can choose top-up health insurance instead!
What are top-up health plans?
A top-up plan gives you additional coverage if your insurance runs out. Suppose you have been hospitalised and your insurance policy covers Rs. 10 lakhs while your top-up cover is Rs. 3 lakhs. If your hospital bill is Rs. 13 lakhs then your insurance and top-up together cover your entire treatment.
Meanwhile, if your hospital and treatment bills exceed Rs. 13 lakhs, you will have to pay the difference out of your own pocket.
Top-up health plans are excellent because they are generally cheaper than buying a whole new plan. This means that the insured does not need to upgrade their current health plan or worry about purchasing a brand new policy. The top-up policy continues to give them the security they need.
Why do top-up plans exist?
The three main reasons why there is a need for top-up health plans:
- Lower Premiums: Insurers typically consider top-up insurance low-risk because of the cut-offs. Therefore, instead of buying a new insurance plan, you can opt for the top-up plan and stay covered.
- Longer Coverage: The main idea behind top-up plans is that your coverage is extended. This means that even if your health insurance policy gets exhausted during your claim process, you will still be covered by your top-up insurance.
- Multiple Insurers: If you are happy with your current health insurance provider but do not like their selection of top-up plans, you can choose a different provider. As long as you exceed the cut-off point, your top-up insurer has to pay. So you always stay covered. This means you can also buy the plan at a cheaper rate.
Understanding Deductibles
Before ending this section, we need to explain a key feature of top-up plans: deductibles. We already referred to a cut-off point multiple times in the three primary needs. These cut-offs are also called deductibles. Deductibles basically determine when you can claim your top-up insurance.
E.g. if you have Rs. 5 lakhs sum insured through your top-up health insurance with Rs. 3 lakhs deductible, you can only claim your top-up insurance if your bills exceed Rs. 3 lakhs. Your primary health insurance will need to cover anything less than that.
While we will explore more features and benefits soon, this is a basic understanding of top-up plans. Our experts at Cover 360 know the complete inn and outs of these plans. So they also know which top-up plan is best suited to your needs!
Advantages of Top-Up Health Plan
Top-up health plans exist for people seeking more out of their insurance. They operate on the premise that if you run out of your current coverage, you can dip into your top-up coverage. As long as you meet the deductible limit, you remain covered.
Today, more and more people are buying top-up health insurance. Now, this could raise some questions. Particularly, the question why. If someone is dissatisfied with their current plan, shouldn’t they simply choose a new plan? A plan with more coverage? While that is a good idea, a lot of people choose top-up insurance precisely to avoid buying a new plan. Buying a new plan incurs higher premiums. Due to the high deductibles in top-up plans, the premiums are typically lower. This makes them more attractive. So what are some general advantages?
As we discussed, deductibles make top-up plans cheaper. The higher the deductible, the cheaper the policy. Therefore, you get excellent, extra coverage at a more affordable cost.
Regular health insurance policies may require you to pay a nominal cost if your coverage ends and you want to extend it. Getting a top-up plan is better because it increases your scope of coverage while ensuring you remain covered.
One of the best parts of top-up plans is that they do not need to be purchased from your existing health insurance provider. You can get top-up health insurance from a completely new insurer. This allows you to explore your options better and see what other health plans are out there.
You have both family floater and individual options for top-up plans. You can choose the best one as per your needs.
Cover 360 takes all these advantages into account when determining the ideal policy for you! This way, we ensure you get the most out of your top-up health insurance!
Features and Benefits of Top-up Health Plan
Top-up health plansact as padding for your existing health insurance. Although they can be purchased even without existing health insurance, they are less effective this way. You only get their true benefits if you get them in addition to your existing healthcare policy.
Their rising popularity due to their features and benefits means several insurers now offer top-up plans. But what does this mean? What are these features and benefits? What sets top-up health insurance apart from regular health insurance policies?
- The main feature of a top-up plan is its deductibles. This means that you have to reach a certain limit in medical expenses before your plan kicks in. These limits are called deductibles and reduce the cost of the top-up insurance plans. Therefore, top-up insurance is a cheaper option.
- Lifelong renewability is often an option.
- The policy term generally ranges from 1 – 3 years.
- If both parents are covered by a top-up plan, the child can be included in the same plan.
- Some plans offer a free-look period for 15 days.
- Top-up plans have no restrictions or sub-limits when it comes to room rents, doctor’s fees, nursing charges or hospitalisation costs.
- Some plans offer a family discount, which includes the policyholder, their spouse, dependent parents and children.
- No pre-medical screening is necessary up to a certain age.
- You get tax benefits on the insurance premiums under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act.
Our expert analysts at Cover 360 understand all the features and benefits thoroughly. With this in mind, we bring you the ideal top-up health insurance policy that best benefits you!
What is Covered in a Top-Up Health Plan
Top-up health plans are often chosen by people who want a little extra security. If they feel like they want more financial coverage from their health insurance policy but do not want a new policy, they choose top-up health insurance. This makes perfect sense and has made this kind of health plan exceedingly popular today.
Therefore, the question of what to think about when choosing a top-up plan arises. One of the obvious answers is coverage. You need to know what your healthcare policy covers before getting it. Simply choosing a plan because it is cheaper is not a good plan. So we put together a list of things that top-up health plans generally cover. That said, this is a very general list, and the real coverage differs from plan to plan.
- Pre-hospitalisation generally charges up to 30 days, but this is subject to change.
- Post-hospitalisation generally charges up to 60 days, but this is subject to change.
- Daycare procedures, i.e. procedures during which you are only hospitalised for a day.
- Some plans cover organ donor expenses.
- Emergency ambulance services may be covered up to a specified limit.
- Domiciliary treatment expenses that are doctor-prescribed may be covered.
- Some insurers offer cumulative bonuses if you go for a year without claiming your sum.
Checking the specifics is crucial before you make your decision. Luckily, this is why Cover 360’s analysts are here! We look at the coverage provided by every plan and determine what suits your needs. Then you can either choose that policy, or we can pair you with a different one - it is entirely up to you!
What a Top-Up Health Plan Offers
Top-up health plans are popular today for several reasons. They offer extra protection, a higher assured sum, are often cheaper than regular health insurance plans etc. This makes them attractive for people seeking additional coverage. If they feel their current sum assured is not enough but do not want to incur a higher premium by changing their policy, they choose top-up health insurance instead.
However, such understandings of the top-up health plans have also created misconceptions. When deciding to go in for a top-up plan, you need to be completely clear about what the plan offers.
A top-up plan is not a rider policy. A rider is typically an add-on to your existing health plan. Rider policies include accident insurance. They need a base plan. You do not need a base plan for a top-up plan.
A top-up plan offers the same kind of exhaustive coverage that your regular healthcare plan offers. It is just at a cheaper rate and for lower premiums because of the high deductibles.
Understanding deductibles is very important. They are the limits to your health insurance. When your treatment exceeds this limit, your top-up policy covers it. So choose your plan wisely.
Since the plans are considered low-risk, there is often no need for pre-medical screening up to a certain age. You also get free-look periods during which the policy covers you without incurring any costs.
At Cover 360, we take great care to bring you the top-up health insurance that will offer you the most. This way, you will always be safe and never sorry!
Top-up health plans have several benefits, as we have already discussed. They give you and your healthcare more security, especially in trying times. They help your financial situation and prevent you from incurring major losses. The best part? They are cheaper than regular health insurance! While this is because of the deductibles, they are still very attractive due to this.
More people are choosing top-up health insurance today than ever before. More providers offer top-up plans, too. The fact that you can purchase them even without a base health policy is just another advantage. So, how do you know when you can use a top-up plan?
- Always check the deductible limit. This is the limit you need to reach before you can make a claim.
- This limit has to be reached in a single hospitalisation. This means that you cannot club together 2 hospital bills that reach the limit.
- For example, if your deductible limit is Rs. 3 lakhs and you undergo hospitalisation twice for Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 2 lakhs, you cannot make a claim.
- Similarly, in a family floater policy, even if two family members are hospitalised at Rs. 2 lakhs each, the Rs. 3 lakhs deductible limit is not met.
- If your illness relapses within 45 days, it is considered a single illness. Therefore, even if you did not meet the deductible limit before, you can club these hospitalisations together.
- If you get hospitalised after the 45 days, it is considered a new illness.
- Basically, your entire top-up plan depends on your deductible.
- If your hospital bill exceeds your health insurance sum assured but does not meet your top-up plan’s deductible, you need to pay the difference.
- If it does meet the top-up health insurance deductible, you can use your top-up plan to cover it.
Cover 360 believes in helping you every step of the way. Therefore, if you have any questions about top-up health plans, we are always here to answer!
How to Select a Top-Up Health Plan
Top-up health plans, as the name suggests, add to your current health plan. Therefore, while you may have an existing healthcare policy, you may want more coverage and protection at a cheaper rate. A top-up health insurance policy helps in this case.
There are certain things to keep in mind when choosing your top-up health plan. The primary thing is your reason behind choosing it. For some people, a top-up health plan is about getting a cheaper policy. For others, it may be about added coverage. There may even be a third criterion of people who choose it to try out a different insurance provider. Whatever your reason may be, it is crucial that you are crystal clear about it before browsing.
So, how do you select a plan?
- If you are looking for top-up health plans at a lower price, choose a plan with a higher deductible. The higher the deductible, the cheaper the plan and its premiums.
- Ensure that your top-up plan gives you adequate coverage.
- Ideally, the deductible in your top-up plan should be equal to or less than the sum assured by your regular healthcare policy. This ensures that your health insurance can cover you up to that point before you fall back on your top-up plan.
- Certain exclusions like daily cash allowance etc. should not matter much as long as your regular health insurance covers them.
- Always check everything with regards to the waiting period for pre-existing illnesses.
- If you are choosing a different insurance provider from your health insurance, ensure that your new insurer has a high claim rate. This will guarantee efficiency and quick response when you claim for insurance.
- If you are choosing just a top-up health insurance policy with no regular health insurance, ensure that you can cover the deductible amount. This way, if your medical expenses do not meet the limit, you will not fall into bankruptcy.
These are just some of the things you need to keep in mind when choosing your top-up plan. Luckily, the specialists at Cover 360 are right here keeping it in their minds along with you! We help guide you towards top-up health plans that give you the greatest advantage!
How to Make the Best Use of a Top-Up Health Plan
Top-up health plans may have many advantages, but not everyone knows how to use them. A lot of people assume that they know what they are doing. They think they understand top-up health insurance completely. But they can be very wrong. Knowing the theory behind a top-up plan does not make you an expert in practice. You may still need help figuring out how you can make the most of your plan. Or you may think you are making the most of your plan when, in fact, you are not.
So how do you make the best use of your top-up health insurance? How can you properly reap the benefits of top-up health plans?
Have a Base Sum Assured
While you can choose a top-up plan without an existing health insurance policy, this is not a good idea. Having a health insurance policy offers higher coverage.
The deductible is the limit you need to exceed for your top-up insurance to come into effect. E.g. if your deductible is Rs. 3 lakhs, you need to reach Rs. 3 lakhs or higher per hospitalisation for your top-up plan to cover. If your health insurance base sum is Rs. 3 lakhs, then you will not pay anything.
Your top-up plan should never be your primary health insurance. It should always be an add-on. Otherwise, you might end up paying more than receiving.
Top-up plans are financially wise decisions. They offer greater coverage for you and your family at a cheaper price. But you need to keep these factors in mind to make the most out of your plan. Luckily, you have our experts at Cover 360 keeping these in mind for you! We choose your plan ensuring that you can make the most out of it, in the times of health crisis!
Top-Up Plan vs Super Top-Up Plan
Top-up health plans have established their popularity as desirable insurance plans. However, that has not stopped the rise of another kind of top-up health insurance: the super-top up plan. Potential buyers know that both these options exist but do not know how they differ. Even if they do know the difference, they do not know how to choose the right one. Well, that is why our insurance experts are here to help you learn the difference and determine which plan suits your needs!
So, what are the differences between top-up and super top-up plans?
Difference 1
- In a top-up plan, a single claim needs to meet the deductible limit for it to be a valid claim.
- The super top-up plan covers you if your multiple claims at the end of the policy term meet the deductible limit.
Difference 2
- In a top-up plan, you can only claim insurance once, for a single hospitalisation and treatment instance.
- The super top-up health plans allow you to claim insurance at the end of the policy term. You can claim multiple times.
Difference 3
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In a top-up plan, once the base sum assured is exhausted, the policy can only be reused with a contribution from the policyholder.
E.g.: The sum assured for base policy is 5 lakhs and the top-up is 5 lakhs too. Now, the policyholder makes the first claim for 8 lakhs. The base sum assured can be used along with 3 lakhs from the top-up against the claim. In case the next claim occurs and it is of 5 lakhs, then the balance top-up amount of 2 lakhs can only be used if the policyholder pays 3 lakhs from their own pocket to activate the top-up.
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In a super top-up plan, the policy lapses only once the policyholder reaches the maximum limit which is the total of base sum assured and the super top-up amount. He/she can keep using the super top-up until then.
E.g.: If the person holds a base policy of 5 lakhs and a also super top-up of 5 lakhs, he/she can claim any amount up to 10 lakhs, and keep making next claims as per need until this amount is completely exhausted. There is no need to pay from the pocket to activate the super top-up.
That said, in both cases, the premiums are cheaper. They are both, therefore, very desirable insurance options.
Cover 360’s expert analysts understand these differences and use such parameters to choose the ideal plan for you. Depending on what you are looking for, we pair you with the top-up plan that gives you the maximum benefits at the minimum limitations!
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