When you get health insurance at an early age, say in the 20s or 30s, the premium is usually very low. As you grow older, the premium increases. Also, with an increase in the number of claims after the Covid pandemic, there is a substantial increase in the medical cost; the number of health claims has also increased, increasing the health insurance cost. The question is, are there low-cost health insurance options available in the market that can save you money even after your retirement? Let’s check out some Low-Cost Health Insurance Options available in the market.

Lower Amount Base Health Policy With A Big Size Super-Top-Up  

You can substantially reduce the premium cost if you take a base health policy with a small cover size, say Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. However, a health insurance policy with a cover size of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh may not be sufficient for you, especially to mitigate your future medical risk. So, you can enhance health insurance coverage by separately buying a super-top-up health policy of desired cover size while keeping the sum insured of the base health policy as a deductible. For example, suppose the sum insured of your base health policy is Rs 5 lakh. You can purchase a super-top-up health policy with a deductible of Rs 5 lakh and a sum assured of Rs 20 lakh. It means for a medical bill of Rs 5 lakh, you will get the cover from your base policy, and if the bill is more than Rs 5 lakh and up to Rs 25 lakh (Rs 5 lakh base policy plus Rs 20 Lac super-top-up), you will get cover through your super-top-up policy.

A combination of base policy and super-top-up policy can significantly reduce your effective premium.

Health Policy With A Deductible 

Nowadays, most health insurance companies offer health policies with an option to choose the desired size of the deductible. The deductible is the threshold amount until you bear the entire medical expenses. For example, if you purchase a health policy with a deductible of Rs 2 lakh, then you have to pay for the hospital bill up to the amount of Rs 2 lakh, and a bill above the agreed deductible amount would be covered by the insurance company. Having a deductible in the health policy can significantly reduce the premium. The higher the deductible threshold, the lower the health insurance premium for a particular sum assured.

Things To Keep In Mind  

You may find it difficult to get a new health policy or enhance the health policy size as you grow older, so it’s better to plan your health insurance many years before your retirement. If you choose to reduce the premium by accepting the deductible, ensure you can repay the agreed deductible amount even after retirement. Compare the various health and super-top-up policies available in the market before you choose them.

The author is an independent financial journalist