Supplement Your Health Cover With Top-Up Plans for Additional Expenses

Selecting an appropriate amount of health insurance can be perplexing. With the rising cost of healthcare facilities, a particular sum insured today may be insufficient a few years later. So how can one ensure your health insurance coverage is at par with present-day healthcare costs. 

Do you need to buy new health cover each time? No! There’s a solution to combat the ever-growing medical inflation. Top up health insurance! 

What is a top-up insurance policy?

Top-up health insurance plans can be purchased as an add-on to your existing health insurance. This plan comes into force when the coverage from your primary insurance plan is exhausted. Alternatively, top-up plans can also be purchased as a standalone policy.

Top-up policies have a deductible component. The deductible is the threshold which the insured is required to cross before the top-up coverage kicks in. A smart move would be buying a top-up policy with the same amount of deductible as the sum insured of your base medical insurance plan. 

Let us understand this with an example.

Rahul has a base medical insurance plan with a sum assured of ₹7 lakhs. Now buying a top-up policy with a deductible of ₹7 lakhs will be beneficial. This way, the top-up policy will offer coverage to Rahul as soon as his base policy is exhausted. Any additional expenses over and above his base policy amount will be insured by the top-up plan subject to its limits.

Not only a top-up policy can be combined with standard health insurance, but it can also be clubbed with other forms of insurance policies like a family health insurance, individual health cover, group insurance plans and more. 

What are the benefits of using a top-up health insurance policy?

Top-up policies can be availed for its numerous benefits. Let us look at some of those benefits under top-up cover. 

Supplement your existing health insurance coverage:Top up health insurance policies can be an excellent back-up option to your standard health insurance policy. It provides coverage to the beneficiaries of your policy once the amount of medical expenses exceeds the deductible amount. 

Can be used as a standalone policy: Some individuals may be able to afford medical expenses upto a particular limit. A top-up policy can be used by these persons too. In case the treatment cost exceeds a particular amount, the top-up coverage will kick in and financially secure the policyholder. 

Premiums are affordable: Since top-up plans are additional coverage to base policies, the premiums for these policies are affordable. Due to the scalability it offers, a top-up plan is a suitable choice for all. 

Can be clubbed with a family health insurance: Top-up policies are useful when increasing the coverage of existing health insurance plans for family. As time passes, you may feel your existing family health cover is insufficient.A top-up cover can be easily added to increase the overall sum assured combined under both policies. 

With the rapid increase in treatment costs, a top-up policy can be useful instead of cancelling the existing policy and repurchasing a new plan with increased coverage. Any accrued policy benefits will be lost, and you will have to serve fresh waiting periods. Thus, at any time you wish to enhance the coverage of your policy, purchase a top-up cover and enjoy the added benefits.