Insurance Bytes

When you think of a major medical expense, you would envisage a heart ailment, a stroke or cancer that can cause a huge expense. A dental expense usually does not cross the mind but mind you a hole in your tooth can also drill a hole in your savings.  Dental implants charges range from Rs 20,000/- to Rs 60,000/-. Orthodontics (braces) charges range from Rs 25,000/- to Rs 1,00,000/-. Root canal treatment can range from Rs 3000/- to Rs 7,000/- per tooth. So, the next logical question would be to know about the dental insurance options available. Dental Insurance Plans: Sadly, not much options are available. Unlike the western countries, where many standalone dental plans  with comprehensive coverage  are available, our country has a lot of catching up to do in this regard. Currently, no standalone dental insurance plan exists. Most of the health insurance plans cover dental treatment only if it is caused by an accidental bodily injury. Hospitalization...

In my article Critical Illness Insurance – A must have we had discussed on the importance of having a critical illness plan. It provides the financial muscle needed to fight a critical ailment. Medical advancements have brought about vast improvements in the treatment capabilities and this has increased the survival rates for various critical illnesses. However, this does not come cheap. A deep pocket is essential to have any chance of emerging victorious against a critical illness. Certain diseases like cancer are cash guzzlers and can gobble up lakhs of rupees in treatment. Now, many insurance companies have introduced exclusive cancer insurance plans to take care of this aspect. This gets us to the question on which is better, an exclusive cancer plan or a critical illness plan which covers multiple critical illnesses including cancer. Before we answer that question, let’s get some insight into the cancer estimates for India. Cancer estimates for India There were 1...

A study conducted by Bigdecisions.com, a personal finance advice platform, says about 95% of Indians are without adequate health insurance cover to meet some of the most common procedures and ailments. It goes on to state that healthcare inflation is seeing double digit inflation in India*. Health insurance can no longer be viewed just as a tax saving tool, it is a necessity today. As such, the time is ripe to clear the various myths that abound about health insurance.  Listed below are some of the common myths and the reality regarding them: 1)       I am young and healthy, so I don’t need health insurance. Well, you could be right about the first part of the statement but the same cannot be said about the latter part. Here’s why: ·       Your health insurance policy also covers accidents. After all, anybody irrespective of age can meet with an accident. Especially if you are young and with insufficient savings, an accid...

The introduction of LTCG tax on equity and equity oriented mutual funds have put ULIPs in focus as they do not attract LTCG (as per current tax laws). Most insurers have started pitching ULIPs as an alternative to mutual funds and stocks. One of the USPs of an ULIP is the flexibility and control it offers the policyholder unlike traditional life insurance. However, this control and flexibility translates into responsibility in the policyholder’s hands to manage his ULIP investments well. Simply buying the best available ULIP will not result in superior returns. Reviewing the policy at regular intervals and making necessary changes as per the market conditions, life stage, goals etc alone will ensure that the policy fund registers a stellar performance. Let us look at the various ways in which you can maximize the potential of your ULIP: 1.        Asset allocation: First and foremost, when you buy an ULIP you need to define the asset allocation. As p...

With an ULIP, you can access your funds when in need. This can be done by way of a partial withdrawal without surrendering your policy. Also, as in a traditional money back plan you don’t have to wait for the pre-defined dates to make the withdrawal. Sounds simple and flexible, doesn’t it? Now let’s have a look at how to make a partial withdrawal and the guidelines which govern these withdrawals: How to make a partial withdrawal?      1)       Partial withdrawal form in prescribed format signed by the policyholder (no letter, email requests are entertained by most insurance companies). The form is available on the insurer’s website. 2)       NEFT details for direct transfer of funds (original cancelled cheque/passbook page showing required details) 3)       Self-attested identity/address copies Most companies insist that the policyholder visit the nearest branch office with t...

As Ashok poured through his wife Lata’s discharge summary and hospitalization bills, he rued the fact that he had not listened to his friend’s advice, given a few years back. His friend had advised him to supplement his employer given health insurance plan with a top-up health plan. He had then shrugged off the suggestion.  The hospitalization expenses for his wife’s stroke related treatment exceeded his employer's health plan by Rs 4 lakhs. This amount was paid from his savings leaving him in a tight spot financially. You may be wondering how a top-up plan could have helped him in this situation. Let’s see how. A top-up health insurance plan is a reimbursement plan which has a deductible or comes into effect after a certain threshold limit only. One has to choose the deductible amount while buying the plan. The expenses till the deductible limit are to be met either from your own pocket or by way of an existing health insurance plan. For eg: Let us assume you have h...