Comparing health insurance super top-up plans

[mp22]

@joeetaku As you said there was not a lot of info online about top up plans, so we thought of going through the traditional agent route, but as it turns out he took us for a ride. Will most probably switch to Reliance once this expires.

 

[john_omowale]

@mp22 if extra premium is not an issue, my honest opinion is to buy another one immediately

 

[mp22]

@john_omowale I don't think it should be. I will look into this. Thank you!

 

[flishflake86]

@joeetaku Considered navi?

 

[furiouscat4323]

@joeetaku At these prices, does it even make sense to go for the super top-up plans? By paying the same extra premium, can't we get much higer coverage on the base plan itself?

 

[nischansr]

@furiouscat4323 Look at the number of people covered.

 

[resjudicata]

@joeetaku Sorry for these stupid questions-

1. Suppose the base health insurance plan is from company A and the super top up plan is from company B then at the time of claims don't they keep on putting the claim responsibility on each other?
2. Doesn't it make sense to get a good base health plan instead of a super top up plan?

 

[joeetaku]

@resjudicata

1. Super top up will kick in after the deductible is used up in the base health plan. So, if the base health plan is of 4 lakh, it is important to take super topup with 4 L deductible
2. Base health plan with good sum assured like 50L turns out to be too expensive. Hence a mix of base + super topup turns out to be cheaper.

 

[resjudicata]

@joeetaku

4 L deductible

Thanks. What is the meaning of the deductible here?

 

[krysfaust00]

@resjudicata

1. The super top up would kick in only when your expenses cross the deductible in a given year. So as long as you can prove the expenses were above deductible limit, it should be OK. Only catch is if both are of different insurers, the super topup would be a rembersement and not cashless, AFAIK.
2. Higher base health plan's premium is quite high compared to base+super topup.

 

[ruslanishe]

@krysfaust00 With regards to point 1, that is what I was told by joinditto.in as well. If base and super top-up are different insurers, then claims would only be on reimbursement basis.

 

[narrowgateevangelist]

@krysfaust00 is it important that base policy and super top up policy should be start with same date or as near as possible? I know it is not mandatory but to get most out of two. Noob here, I have personal policy and thinking to go for super top up but holding of till I get clarity on this

 

[krysfaust00]

@narrowgateevangelist Can you elaborate?
Don't think it matters as long as you have uninterrupted coverage.

 

[narrowgateevangelist]

@krysfaust00 ok. I will go with example of what I saw recently on insta reel.

• base policy is of SI 5lac from 1 Jan to 31 Dec
• top up policy with 5 lac deductible and SI 20lac is from 1 Jul to 30 Jun (because obviously we took top up policy after sometime.)
• you made 3lac claim on base policy let say on 1st Mar
• again on 1st Aug, you incurred medical expenses of 10lac . Your base policy will only cover 2lac since it is in same year as previous claim of 3lac. But for top up policy year start from 1 Jul so 3lac of 1st Mar won't be counted as deductible as it gets reset on 1st Jul. So in this case, you still have to pay 3 lac from your own pocket (2 lac from base policy, 3 lac from pocket to meet deductible limit, for rest of the 5 lac you can claim from top up)

is it how top up or super top up policy works? i.e. without any link of base policy. If so then top up policy is nothing but another separate policy with deductible limit high same as base policy

 

[krysfaust00]

@narrowgateevangelist The example does make sense, yes. Probably thats why some health policy offers full SI restoration benefit and no-claim bonus. If your base and super topup time frames don't match, that feature can come handy for you.

 

[hosnloem]

@joeetaku None of these cover pre-existing conditions I assume, say for old people, who have Arthritis and stuff?

 

[joeetaku]

@hosnloem Pre existing gets covered after 3 years. I think old people will also get covered, but need to check. Their premium will be high. This premium is for adults around 40 years of age.

 

[lucille1073]

@joeetaku Absolutely correct! Talking about my experience, I am using a Bajaj Allianz health insurance plan. The company provides a secure top-up health insurance plan which proves to be very beneficial during hospitalisation. The Extra Care Plus policy provides maternity cover, emergency ambulance cover, floater cover for the entire family, no pre-policy check-up up to 55 years, pre-existing disease cover, pre and post hospitalisation cover, entry age up to 80 years, and day care procedure cover. Some additional benefits offered by the policy are tax saving, hassle-free claim settlement, and preventive health check-up, to name a few. To know more, check this article. https://www.bajajallianz.com/health-insurance-plans/top-up-health-insurance.html. You can also check the top up plans of other companies like Aditya Birla, Star Health, ICICI Lombard etc.

 

[jkalbritton1]

@lucille1073 Aap to Bajaj Finserv ke salesman ho. Apki comment history se pata chal raha hai

 

[resjudicata]

@joeetaku You can look at HDFC Ergo Optima Restore. I have this for me with a premium of ₹8300.