With the cost of medical treatment – especially in case of hospitalisation in a private hospital – increasing very fast, having a health insurance cover has become indispensable for those not having any life-long cover from their employers.
In most of the private sector organisations, there are corporate health insurance policies for the employees and their families. However, in case of job change or retirement, an employee can no longer avail the advantage of such group health plans.
Moreover, after retirement – when a person is in more need of an insurance cover due to ageing – not having any health cover would put him/her in a great financial risk. And getting a new personal health insurance policy at that age without any loading or exclusions would be very difficult.
So, along with a corporate health insurance cover, one should also have a personal health insurance cover, unless the corporate cover is a life-long cover.
While there are various health insurance plans available with health insurance companies, a Top Up or Super Top Up health insurance plan would come relatively cheaper for an employee.
A Top Up Plan or Super Top Up Plan may be taken along with a corporate health cover as a top up of the corporate cover. For example, if an employee has a corporate health cover of Rs 2 lakh, he/she may take a personal Top Up Plan of Rs 5 lakh with Rs 2 lakh as deductible. If the cost of treatment exceeds Rs 2 lakh, after availing the benefits of the corporate cover, the employee may avail the benefits of Top Up cover to pay the excess amount.
Benefits
While almost all the health insurance plans have the same basic features, they differ in terms of additional benefits and premium amounts.
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Cost benefit
The deductible makes a Top Up or Super Top Up plan cheaper than a health insurance plan without any deductible. Among the Top Up and Super Top Up plans, Top Up plans are cheaper than Super Top Up ones.
Conversion benefit
A Top Up or Super Top Up plan may be converted into a full-fledged health insurance policy at the age of 60 years – that is at the time of retirement – or even earlier as per the terms and conditions of the plan.
Differences
A Top Up plan is cheaper than a Super Top Up plan because in case of a Top Up Plan, the deductible is applicable on every claim, while in case of a Super Top Up plan, the deductible is applicable only once in a policy year.
For example, in case of a Rs 5 lakh cover with Rs 2 lakh deductible, the deductible amount of Rs 2 lakh will be deducted from the cost of treatment every time a claim is filed under a Top Up Plan, while in case of a Super Top Up plan, Rs 2 lakh will be deducted from the cost of the first claim in a policy year and the full amount – up to the sum insured – will be admissible on the subsequent claims in the same policy year.
