Health Insurance for Young People: Affordable Coverage for the Youth

Health insurance is a coverage plan which reimburses the actual amount that was paid in hospital expenses within the coverage limit. These plans offer a variety of benefits including a financial buffer in times of a medical emergency. With healthcare costs rising steadily, opting for health insurance for the whole family is a wise choice. Children too should have a good health insurance policy, so that they can have the best medical care without the burden of the cost falling on the family.

Most children are healthy and full of life. However, illness and injury sometimes cannot be avoided no matter how careful you are. Even the healthiest of children could get sports injuries which require stitches or might get a fracture which requires a cast. It is also possible that a child could be hospitalised because of dengue or malaria. In cases like this, it is better to have a backup plan.

Many insurance companies provide individual child health insurance plans which parents can consider buying. However, there are a few things that should be considered before buying an individual health plan for your child. The premium for a child’s health insurance is less than what it would be compared to an adult’s plan, but the sum insured is also less. It is quite possible that if you have a 3-lakh coverage on your own health policy, your child might only receive 1-lakh coverage on a child plan.

Also note, that if you have two or three children and you intend to buy individual health insurance for each of them as well as for yourself and your spouse, it could work out quite expensive. The good news is that there is another option that might suit your needs much better.

Family Health Insurance

Family health insurance is also called a family floater plan or comprehensive health insurance. As the name states, the policy offers protection for the whole family. Most insurance providers have family health insurance that covers 4 to 7 members of the family. Here are some facts about family health insurance plans that will help you decide better if that is what will suit your needs best:

The premium of a family health insurance plan will be more than a single person plan but will work out as less expensive than buying individual plans for the entire family.

Children as young as 91 days* (Source: Money Control) can get covered by the same policy covering both parents.

When buying family health insurance, make sure that the policy covers children over the age of 5 years as well.

When children reach the age of 18, 25, or get married, they are moved out of the family health insurance plan and will have to buy individual plans. However, this does not impact the continuity of cover** (Source: The Economic Times).

You have the choice of family insurance policies that offer varying degrees of coverage from just hospital stay to all medical tests, doctor’s visits, medication and more within a certain time frame. Choose a policy that gives your child the best all-round coverage that could be required during an illness or medical emergency.

When buying health insurance for your child, the variety of products available can make the choice difficult. Compare a family health insurance plan with an individual child plan and see which one works out as more beneficial for you and your child.