[kshastry]

Are any Banks (particularly, HDFC, Kotak, SBI, ICICI) providing group Health Insurance policy to their customers? There was one such policy I had seen offered by Karanataka Bank. Usually premiums will be lower with higher sum assurance.

[self_driven]

On behalf of my cousin, 27 yo male. He works at a startup so no employer insurance.

Ditto has suggested HDFC Optima Secure, but he is confused between 10 lakh, 15 lakh and 20 lakh base plan. The difference in premiums is merely 700 bucks now so 20 lakh plan seems to be a good choice. But Ditto recommends to go with 10 lakh plan as premium gap which is in 3 digits now will turn into a 5-digit figure after 45-50 age, when coverage is needed the most.

I see no harm in paying 25-30% extra for 2x coverage but if the difference is even more, it will become a financial burden at that age to pay higher premiums for coverage that might remain unused. Any thoughts?

[DHARM]

Originally Posted by self_driven

On behalf of my cousin, 27 yo male. He works at a startup so no employer insurance.

Ditto has suggested HDFC Optima Secure, but he is confused between 10 lakh, 15 lakh and 20 lakh base plan. The difference in premiums is merely 700 bucks now so 20 lakh plan seems to be a good choice. But Ditto recommends to go with 10 lakh plan as premium gap which is in 3 digits now will turn into a 5-digit figure after 45-50 age, when coverage is needed the most.

I see no harm in paying 25-30% extra for 2x coverage but if the difference is even more, it will become a financial burden at that age to pay higher premiums for coverage that might remain unused. Any thoughts?

suggest to Go for maximum coverage now at such a low difference, 15-20 years down the line he may probably need bigger insurance policy than 20lakhs due to cost inflation

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by self_driven

On behalf of my cousin, 27 yo male. He works at a startup so no employer insurance.

....Any thoughts?

I suggest go with what suits the person in the next 3-4 years. If he is single, then 10L should be fine.

New models of health insurance are evolving. For example, see bhpian TurboTorque's post#907. Premiums are also being calculated based on your location. I am sure in the next few years we will have personalized health insurance plans based on your specific genetic risks, lifestyle etc.

18-20 years is just too long to think about now and assume that you will have a higher premium.

[kushagra452]

Recently, I bought a family floater policy from HDFC. Total premium for 2 yrs of coverage for 2 individuals with a cover of Rs.20L was Rs.47500. Policy name is Optima Secure.

[A.R]

Originally Posted by kshastry

Are any Banks (particularly, HDFC, Kotak, SBI, ICICI) providing group Health Insurance policy to their customers? There was one such policy I had seen offered by Karanataka Bank. Usually premiums will be lower with higher sum assurance.

Yes, Karnataka Bank is providing health insurance for Senior Citizens up to the age of 80. Visit the branch and you'll get the details. It's health insurance for a year from CARE, based on account with them with min 25k balance. Meant to be renewed yearly. No health checkups required. Waiting period is one month and co-pay is 20%. Insurance is capped at 10L per per person, per annum and no floater. SBI is coming up with something similar for non associates (current and ex). They already have a good one for employees and ex-employees.

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by self_driven

On behalf of my cousin, 27 yo male. He works at a startup so no employer insurance.

Ditto has suggested HDFC Optima Secure, but he is confused between 10 lakh, 15 lakh and 20 lakh base plan.

Thanks DHARM, Digitalone and Kushagra. He is going ahead with 15 lakh base plan. With HDFC's multiplier benefits, the coverage increases to 45 lakh after a couple of years + 15 lakh restore benefit. Maximum coverage will be 45 lakh in one hospitalisation. Even if he decides to port or if HDFC withdraws these benefits, the base sum insured of 15 lakh shall suffice for the near future.

For those who might be interested, the plan is called Optima Secure and premium is around 17,000 (no voluntary deductible). If someone is planning to go with voluntary deductible in this plan, please note that the settlement from HDFC will be done on reimbursement basis if you pay the deductible part using cashless corporate policy. This was told by Ditto and also confirmed by HDFC.

[dass]

Originally Posted by A.R

Yes, Karnataka Bank is providing health insurance for Senior Citizens up to the age of 80. Visit the branch and you'll get the details. It's health insurance for a year from CARE, based on account with them with min 25k balance.

Would you know if this is Health Insurance base plan or a Top up plan?

[A.R]

This is a health insurance plan that functions individually, not necessarily a top up. If you have another health insurance plan, then this can work as a top up/extended coverage to the other plan, and vice versa.

[callvvijay]

Originally Posted by Grr7

My parents had a Health Insurance through Indian Bank (in collaboration with United India Insurance Company for previous 6-7 yrs.

However, the bank changed its tie up to Niva Bupa.

Were your parent(s) ex-employee of Indian Bank?
My dad is a retired IB employee and as you said the tie-up was with United India till last year. However, this year they have changed it to Universal Sompo. So, when you say Niva Bupa, it is a bit confusing.

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Yes they did offer but it covers only specific illnesses like you mentioned and I don’t have any of those. Have cholesterol slightly above normal and that wasn’t covered in instant-cover. So took the 2 year PED reduction thingy. As it is, I don’t intend to use this policy for a couple of years as my corporate policy is pretty solid.

Only reason to go for it was, I wanted to get one before turning 40 and need to pass the threshold of PED waiting periods before I plan to take a break from job

Sailing in the same boat as you -- but, just crossed 40 a few months back! And, I too did have a call with Ditto and was suggested either HDFC or Care policy.

I was not told about the Instant Cover & PED modification thingy. Just did some reading about these. My understanding is that IC reduces the waiting period of "certain diseases" to just 30 days whereas PED modification reduces the waiting period of all pre-existing diseases to 1, 2, or 3 years. Is my understanding right?

Secondly, if I do not have any PEDs as of now, there is no point in opting for this. Correct?

Lastly, is it possible that I opt for a x-lakh policy now and upgrade it to y-lakh policy later? Any constraints?

Cheers!

[Dry Ice]

Most other things being equal, which provider is better? HDFC or Care? Any personal claim experiences with either?

[self_driven]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Most other things being equal, which provider is better? HDFC or Care? Any personal claim experiences with either?

HDFC. Have had multiple experiences in the past and their claim handling has been butter smooth every time. No personal experience with Care but I've mostly heard good things about them. Do check the list of cashless hospitals though. In my case, Care didn't cover some prominent hospitals in my area which HDFC did. These days most of the work is handled by TPA desk so claims are seamless if the hospital is part of insurer's cashless network.

[kishanvvkumar]

Hi - I am 47 years. Was trying to look for a stand alone critical illness insurance plan hoping it will have reasonable premium. Have comprehensive and top up for about 35L insurance and a term plan for life.

Just wanted to close the gap with a stand alone critical illness plan. Was looking at 50L for me/spouse. Was shocked to look at the premiums, it goes about 75/80K to 1.5L per year depending on number of illness covered. For a insurance premium, I was not ready for these numbers .

May be the age is an factor. But I do see that, the premiums are very different when compared to comprehensive and topup plans even for higher coverage limit.
Do not (yet) have any pre existing issues.

I am sure as age increases, the current premiums for comprehensive plans (it looks cheap now. But I am seeing it as a trap. Like 1 cr compressive plan at 55K). but later they can just increase at their whim and would be unaffordable.

Wanted to get advise. Is it worth 1L for critical illness?. I am assuming, in the next 10 years (age bracket 50-60) 50-70L cover will be required. Anyone has got these stand alone plans or always take bundled ones? for 50L as age increases, how did the premiums increase?

Thanks for the patient reading. Health is Wealth. But now Wealth is required for Health

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by JithinR

Hi All,

Wanted to check with members here if anyone has any experience with Care Supreme Instant cover rider.

I wanted to get a insurance policy in place for my dad (64 years) and see that like most people HDFC ergo (my mom is covered on that one) ..

Hi All,

I still have not been able to get an insurance policy to cover my dad (now 65 years old, which is why I am panicking).

The moment you mention Diabetic retinopathy and now recently retinal detachment in the tele medical underwriting call (due to diabetic mellitus), insurance companies back off. We have recently been able to control dad's diabetes with a complete diet change and bring his HBA1C levels from above 8.0 to 6.0 on the dot.

Previously, Care had refused to provide their Care Supreme plan but did agree to provide Care Senior (which really seems to be a basic plan with a lot of exclusions). Niva Bupa had already rejected dad four years ago.

Recently, Manipal Cigna has already refused to provide coverage. I believe most of the plans out there will try to keep their risk profile minimum by excluding senior citizens with PED. Even Senior citizen plans like Manipal Cigna's Senior First Platinum and Senior Active (a plan that touts itself as tailor made for folks with Diabetes) is not provided.

I wanted to check with members here if we can get the Arogya Sanjeevani plan from any insurer without being rejected for PED. If that's the case, then I will make peace with the current situation and just get this plan.

What have members here done for their Senior Citizen parents? I did mess up by not taking a private Health Insurance plan for Dad before he turned 60 (he had his own company plan and I had added him on my company plan too). I did know that I would have to pay a higher premium later on but didn't expect that we wouldn't be able to get a plan in the first place.

[BigBrad]

Hi all,
I currently have a health insurance policy for my parents for which I'm paying premium annually. I recently saw an ad by Policybazaar which mentioned GST exemption for NRIs buying health insurance. I checked with the insurer, New India Assurance for the same, but they are denying any such things. Would like to know if anyone here has availed GST exemption for health insurance.