Health Insurance: Riders add heft to your health plans
Add-on insurance covers make overall health protection plans more
comprehensive and help protect the policyholder and his family from financial
hardship in case of a medical emergency. Important health insurance riders
include those for critical illness, hospital cash accidental injury and
maternity coverage EXPAND
YOUR PROTECTION PLAN
The impact of riders on the overall premium of the
health insurance policy will vary depending on the type of rider and the
insurance company’s underwriting guidelines. A critical illness rider will push
up the premium by 10-20%, a hospital cash rider will increase it by 5-10% and a
maternity rider will hike the premium by 1-5%
Rakesh Goyal, director, Probus Insurance Broker, says
riders in a health insurance policy provide extra benefits and coverage beyond
the basic policy, giving individuals added protection for specific needs or
situations. “People should consider taking health insurance riders when they
have specific health concerns or life events like marriage, starting a family,
or when their basic policy doesn’t cover certain conditions
Enhancing coverage
The base health insurance policy may not have a high
coverage amount to cover all of your medical expenses. Moreover, the base
health insurance policy may not cover certain expenses such as dental care,
vision care, or alternative medicine. Pankaj Goenka, assistant vice president
& head, B2B Business, Insurance Dekho, says the base health insurance policy
may have a waiting period for pre-existing conditions. “Riders can help reduce
the waiting period, so that you can get coverage for your pre-existing
conditions sooner. Riders can provide you with additional benefits, such as a
daily hospital cash allowance, and a lump sum payment for critical illness
Types of riders
Individuals should opt for riders depending on their need, scope of base
policy, family/self medical history as foreseeable in near and distant future.
For instance, a critical illness rider provides a lump sum payment if the
insured is diagnosed with a critical illness, such as cancer, heart attack, or
stroke. The day 1 pre-existing disease rider waives off any waiting period for
pre-existing diseases like hypertension, diabetes, asthma and hyperglycemia.
This rider can be opted for at the time of buying the policy for the first time
The hospital cash rider provides a daily cash allowance if the policyholder is hospitalized. This can help to offset the financial burden of hospitalization,
such as the cost of food, transportation, and lodging. Similarly, the maternity
rider provides coverage for the costs of pregnancy, childbirth, and newborn
care. The personal accident rider provides a lump sum benefit to the
policyholder if he suffers from a total/partial disability or dies in an
accident. In case of accidental death, the lump sum benefit is paid to the family
member/nominee of the policyholder
Riders at what stage
Experts say it is better to opt for as comprehensive health plan including
riders as early in age as possible and as much as one can afford to pay. Apaar
Kasliwal, executive director & COO, Policy Boss, says this is because at a
younger age, body is relatively disease free, lifestyles diseases have not
crept in and hence insurers are more open to giving wider and higher coverage,
which may come with caveats at a later stage of life.