Difference between a comprehensive and regular health plan – Livemint

After the pandemic outbreak, having a well-covered health insurance plan has been inevitable than ever before. However, buyers ask whether they should opt for a regular health plan or go with a comprehensive health plan.

Both plans cover basic hospitalization expenses required for the treatment during medical emergencies. However, regular plans might not cover certain conditions and have a limited sum insured.

Rakesh Goyal, director, Probus Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd, said, The benefits of having a comprehensive health insurance plan is that it covers the cost of regular health checkups, critical illness, known and unknown diseases, such as covid-19. It also includes benefits of cashless treatment in network hospitals, coverage for an ambulance, daycare procedures, alternative treatment options, consumable expenses, and pre and post-hospitalization."

Moreover, most comprehensive health insurance plans cover outpatient department (OPD) expenses and come with certain add-on covers and few riders. It also provides coverage for pre-existing diseases after a specific waiting period," he added.

Some insurers also provide limited cover for physiotherapy, homoeopathy, acupuncture and osteopathy.

On the other side, a regular health insurance plan comes with limited coverage. It covers the medical expenses incurred for pre- and post- hospitalization and other medical expenses if the insured is admitted for more than 24 hours, including diagnostic fees, medicine costs, doctor consultation fees, room rent, etc. It also covers ambulance costs, daycare procedures, pre-existing diseases (with certain waiting periods), medical checkups, etc.

Indraneel Chatterjee, co-founder, RenewBuy, said, The most common form of health insurance is the regular or standard health insurance policy, where the insurance company provides a standard plan cover between 1 lakh (minimum) and 5 lakh (maximum). Of late, the standard health insurance formulated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated 29 health and general insurers to offer health insurance coverage to take care of the basic needs of policyholders."

What you should do: It would help if you opt for comprehensive health insurance as it can protect you and your family with extended coverage, which a standard health insurance policy might not suffice, said Chatterjee.

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Difference between a comprehensive and regular health plan - Livemint