Covers the Entire Family: Some of the best comprehensive health insurance plans allow you to insure your family under one plan. Hence, you can get extensive medical coverage for your spouse and children. Some plans allow you to extend the coverage to your parents and in-laws.
The sum insured here can be available on an individual or on a floater basis, depending on the type of comprehensive plan you opt for.
Pre-Existing Disease Coverage: All comprehensive plans offer pre-existing disease coverage. Once you have completed the waiting period under the plan, you are covered for existing diseases. Generally, the waiting period for pre-existing diseases under health insurance is 1 - 4 years.
Therefore, buying a comprehensive medical plan well before you require coverage for your condition is a wise decision.
Riders/Add-On Covers: You can opt for add-on covers on policy purchase or renewal to extend your base coverage. Remember that these riders require an additional premium payment, so only opt for coverage you absolutely need to avoid overextending your budget.
Some of the popular health insurance riders are critical illness cover, maternity cover, personal accident cover, hospital daily cash, etc.
Cashless Treatment: Like regular health plans, you can claim cashless facilities under comprehensive health insurance at network hospitals. Here, your insurance provider will settle the bill directly with the hospital, mitigating the need for you to gather any last-minute funds.
This facility can be availed for planned and emergency hospitalisations so long as you or an insured family member is hospitalised at a network hospital.
Cumulative Bonus: Most comprehensive health insurance plans come with a cumulative bonus that can be accrued for every consecutive claim-free year. When you renew your policy after a claim-free year, the cumulative bonus will get you a discount on the premium or increase your sum insured by a certain percentage.
Tax Benefits: Much like life insurance policies, you can be eligible for tax benefits on your annual health insurance premium payments. This benefit can be claimed under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act 1961.
You can get deductions up to ₹25,000/₹50,000, and you can also claim a deduction for a maximum of ₹5,000 for preventative health check-ups, which is included within the overall limit.
Outpatient Treatment: One key advantage of having comprehensive health coverage is that your insurer will cover OPD expenses. This means you are reimbursed for the OPD consultation cost incurred when you visit a doctor and do not require hospitalisation.