Health Insurance Booster: Meaning, Benefits & Feature

Mr. Khanna, a Mumbai resident, post complaints of chest pains was advised to go in for a traditional bypass surgery by his doctor. He was confident that his health insurance of ₹ 10 lakhs sum assured will cover his end-to-end treatment, from diagnostic tests to post-surgical care. But he was in for a surprise when he received a total bill of ₹ 15 lakhs. And yes, he had to arrange the remaining amount from his savings.

Such surprises are not uncommon when it comes to healthcare. Healthcare expenses in India are climbing at alarming rate. According to a nationwide survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the cost of treatment rose at a double-digit pace of growth, outpacing average inflation in both rural and urban India over the past decade.

This medical inflation can also be attributed to growing national and international (medical tourism) demand for specialised services and treatments on one side and the supply side bottlenecks on the other.

As a result, a basic health insurance policy might seem inadequate when compared to the cost of major surgeries and treatment of critical illnesses. Luckily, insurance companies offer Riders, Top-ups and now Super Top-ups that allow you to bridge this shortfall.

What is the Health Booster Top-up? What does it offer?

Health Booster Top-up is a super top-up plan that extends your coverage for illnesses and expenses not covered by your base plan or top-ups and comes with a deductible threshold. One of the striking features of Health Booster is that you can claim for aggregate medical expenses incurred during a policy period.

Had Mr. Khanna opted for Health Booster, he could have claimed the remaining ₹ 5 lakhs from his plan rather than breaking his well-earned savings account. So how does this super top-up work? Let's take an example.

For instance, Ms. Kapoor has a regular health plan with ₹ 10 lakhs as sum assured. She further extends her plan with Health Booster of ₹ 10 lakhs with ₹ 5 lakhs as the deductible. In 2015, she claimed for incurred medical expenses as follows:

First Claim – ₹ 7 lakhs

Second Claim – ₹ 2 Lakhs

Third Claim – ₹ 4 lakhs

In such a case, she will receive from the base plan, first and second claim amount of total 9 lakhs and ₹1 lakh of third claim. The remaining ₹ 3 lakhs will be from the Health Booster. Ms. Kapoor is still left with coverage of ₹ 7 lakhs under Health Booster.

Any of your base health plans can be extended with Health Booster. It is a boon for senior citizens, and people who frequent hospitals for treatments. Due to its cumulative coverage it is cost-effective in the long run.

Read about the detailed comparison between Top-up and Super Top-up plans.