A health insurance deductible can help you save money on your health care costs
Understanding how a deductible in your health insurance plan works can help you make savings on your health care costs. A deductible is essentially the sum of money you agree upon to be paid towards your cover before you begin to make claims on your insurance.
The terms Health Plan Deductible, Medical Deductible and Health Insurance Deductible are used interchangeably in most cases. Here is a quick overview of deductibles one can see in a health plan.
Types Of Deductibles And What They Stand For
There are two types of deductibles that are available in India on a health insurance plan, these are compulsory and voluntary deductible. In international markets, there are a few more which are also mentioned below.
- Compulsory Deductible: These deductibles are mandatory and are governed by the insurer. This is a fixed amount that has to be paid by the insured on every claim he makes.
- Voluntary Deductible: As the name states, these are voluntary and are opted for by the insured, in order to reduce his insurance premium.
- Comprehensive Deductible: A single deductible which is applicable across covers. It keeps adding up till you have paid the total amount agreed upon towards your policy.
- Non-Comprehensive Deductible: A Non-Comprehensive Deductible is applicable towards designated covers. It may only require you to pay an amount of money before you can claim benefits to meet certain medical costs and not for others.
- Cumulative Deductible: When you are willing to begin a family health insurance plan, a cumulative deductible will be applicable where all the members included within the plan makes payments towards the deductible till the total amount payable is met.
Understanding Your Deductibles
In order to understand what deductibles apply to your health insurance plan, you need to carefully consider your medical insurance policy. The following questions can help you analyze how much you have to pay to meet your deductibles.
- What covers included within your policy requires payments towards deductibles?
- What covers do not require a payment towards a deductible?
- How much do you require to pay towards your deductible and at what intervals?
The answers to these questions would help you assess your health insurance plan and organize your finances better.
How To Choose A Deductible?
Choosing a higher deductible is not always a safe bet. Thinking long term when you choose your deductible is important. Try to foresee if you can continue the payment towards your deductible in the future. If you sense that the cost may be too much for you to bear when you need to use your cover, reducing it is a wiser choice.
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