Family Health Insurance

Family health insurance offers coverage to a whole family under a single insurance plan. This is one of the most common types of health insurance plans available in the Indian insurance market, that can be further customized as per your family's needs. Under a family floater mediclaim policy, one can include themselves, his/her spouse, dependent children, parents, parents-in-law, among others. With a family floater health insurance, you can be rest assured that expenses related to accidental injuries or illnesses (including COVID-19) are covered.

What is the importance of Family Floater Health Insurance?

The importance of having a mediclaim for a family can't be underestimated because of the following reasons:

Coverage To The Entire Family

Family health insurance is a one-stop health insurance solution for all your family members.

Affordable

The premium payable for the family health insurance is cheaper than the premium payable for individual health plans. For example, you have a family of 4 members, and you want to buy health insurance for everyone. In such a case, buying an individual policy for each member would be costly than buying a family floater plan, covering the 4.

Additional Benefits

You can avail of additional benefits such as maternity benefit, new-born baby cover, critical illness cover, etc. depending on the policy's TnCs.

Hassle-Free

Having a mediclaim for a whole family under one plan reduces the tension of managing individual health policies.

Tax Benefits

One can avail of tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961 by paying premiums of family health insurance.

Best Health Insurance Plans For Family in India 2020

With so many health insurance plans available in the market, it is important to do thorough research and then select the best one. Based on the coverage offered by the health insurance companies, below are the top 10 family health insurance plans in the market:

**Last Updated on 21-01-2021

1. Care Plan by Care Health Insurance

   Care Health Insurance plan ensures the safety of the policyholder and his/her family against financial risks that arise out of a medical emergency.

   Key Features

   • The plan allows the policyholder to avail of the cashless facility in more than 11,000 network hospitals.
   • The plan offers coverage for modern treatments like robotic surgery, HIV/AIDS, etc.
   • One can avail of the facility of annual health check-ups.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	91 days upwards; no maximum entry age
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 6 Crore

2. Max Bupa Health Premia: Platinum - Family Health Insurance Plan

   Health Premia is a comprehensive health insurance plan that looks after your family's medical needs with flying colors.

   Key Features

   • Avail cashless facility in more than 4800+ network hospitals.
   • The plan offers coverage against 20 listed critical illnesses plan (under critical illness cover).
   • The plan also offers maternity benefits for up to two deliveries.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	NA
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 3 Crore

3. Aditya Birla Activ Health Platinum Plan

   Aditya Birla Activ Health Platinum Plan offers comprehensive coverage to your family in the time of medical emergencies.

   Key Features

   • With 7000+ network hospitals, the company lets you avail of the cashless facility without worrying about the financial burden.
   • With this plan, a policyholder is eligible to get day 1 cover for the cost of medicines, tests, and doctor consultation in case of chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and asthma.
   • One can earn up to 30% of their annual policy premium as Health Returns.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	91 days to no limit
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 2 Crore

4. Bharti AXA Smart Super Health Insurance Plan

   With a wide range of benefits, this plan makes sure to look after your family's financial needs in times of medical emergencies.

   Key Features

   • One can avail of the cashless facility in 4500+ network hospitals.
   • The plan offers coverage against the expenses incurred during the pre and post-hospitalization of 60 days and 90 days.
   • One can also avail of the restoration benefit of the sum insured up to 100%.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	91 days-65 years
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 1 Crore

5. Bajaj Allianz Family Floater Health Guard

   Bajaj Allianz Family Floater Health Guard offers suitable protection to you and your family and fulfills all your health care needs.

   Key Features

   • The plan offers cashless facilities in 6500+ network hospitals.
   • The plan provides coverage for pre-hospitalization and post-hospitalization expenses i.e., 60 days before hospitalization and 90 days after getting discharged.
   • In case the sum insured is expired, the plan offers a sum insured reinstatement benefit to the policyholder.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	3 months-65 years
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 1 Crore



6. HDFC ERGO Optima Restore Family Plan

   HDFC ERGO Optima Restore Plan is a comprehensive family floater plan that offers complete medical coverage to you and your family at the time of an emergency.

   Key Features

   • The plan allows the policyholder to avail cashless treatment in more than 10,000 network hospitals.
   • The company rewards the policyholder for staying healthy and offers ambulance cover up to Rs.2000.
   • Pre and post hospitalization expenses (60 & 180 days) are covered under this policy.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	91 days-65 years
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 50 Lakhs

7. SBI Arogya Premier Policy

   SBI Arogya Premier Policy is designed to meet the medical requirements of a family. With wider medical coverage, family members can opt for the best healthcare and consult top medical experts without worrying about the expenses.

   Key Features

   • A policyholder can avail of the cashless facility in 6000+ network hospitals.
   • No medical check-up is required for up to 55 years.
   • The plan covers maternity expenses after the completion of the first 9 months from the date of inception of the policy.

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	3 months-65 years
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 30 Lakhs

8. Star Family Health Optima Plan

   With the Star Family Health Optima Plan, one can cover the entire family's medical needs under a single sum insured.

   Key Features

   • The plan allows the policyholder to avail of the cashless facility in 9,900+ network hospitals.
   • Organ donor expenses are covered up to Rs.1 lakh or 10% of SI (whichever is less).
   • The plan covers pre and post-hospitalization expenses (60 & 90 days).

   Eligibility

   Entry Age	3 months-65 years
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 30 Lakhs

9. Chola MS Family Healthline Insurance Plan

   Chola MS Family Healthline is a great health insurance plan that covers all types of expenses incurred at the time of hospitalization and ensures you and your family get the best treatment without any financial burden.

   Key Features

   • The plan is divided into below-mentioned four variants:
     • Value Healthline
     • Freedom Healthline
     • Enrich Healthline
     • Privilege Healthline
   • The plan offers coverage against the pre-hospitalization expenses of 30/60 days, and post-hospitalization expenses of 60/90 days.
   • The coverage of a maximum of 7 days is offered under domiciliary hospitalization per insured person (per policy year).

   Plan Details

   Maternity Benefits	Available under Privilege Healthline
   Maximum Sum Insured	Rs. 25 Lakhs

10. Edelweiss Family Health Floater Plan

    Edelweiss Family Health Floater is an affordable health insurance plan that protects your family from the ever-rising medical costs during hospitalization.

    Key Features

    • The plan comes in three variants- Silver, Gold & Platinum.
    • The plan offers coverage for the hospitalization expenses up to the sum insured.
    • The plan provides ambulance cover up to Rs.10,000 (varies from variant to variant).

    Plan Details

    Maternity Benefits	Available under Gold & Platinum Plan (after the waiting period of 4 years)
    Optional Cover	Critical illness cover is available

Things to Keep in Mind Before Buying a Mediclaim for a Family

Below are some of the key pointers that one should consider before buying a family health insurance policy. Let's take a look at them.

Coverage Offered By The Plan

Before finalizing the health insurance policy for your family, do check the benefits offered by the insurer. Confirm what type of expenses does it cover, the sum insured it offers, and whether the premium matches the weight of your wallet or not.

Requirements

In several family health plans, you can cover yourself, your spouse, dependent children, and your parents. However, if you have a bigger family and wish to cover your brother or parents-in-law, a few family health plans can meet this requirement.

Easy Claim Process

At the time of need, everyone wants to get their claims settled without any hassles. Therefore, understand your company's claim settlement process thoroughly to avoid any confusion at the time of a medical emergency.

Cashless Hospitalization

Before buying health insurance for your family, make sure that the network hospitals of that company are in your vicinity so that at the time of a medical emergency, you don't have to travel long distances to get the treatment.

Flexibility

If you are not sure about the sum insured and wish to increase/decrease it in the future, consider a family plan that gives you such flexibility.

Family Health Insurance or Individual Health Insurance - Which one to buy?

Answering this question is quite difficult as every individual has different perceptions and requirements. We know that family health insurance covers the entire family under a single sum insured.

Whereas, under an individual health plan, there is one policy for every person. This means, if there are 5 members in the family, everyone will have their policies, and the premium payable for each policy will also be different.

If we look at the premium amount, the premium payable under a family health insurance is less than the premium payable for individual policies. However, there may be instances where family health plans lack some of the benefits that you get under an individual health plan.

Therefore, before buying a health insurance policy, check your family's needs, and then decide whether to opt for individual or family health insurance.

How Can You Buy Family Floater Health Insurance?

With the advancement of technology, many insurance providers allow their potential customers to buy family health insurance via their websites by following a process. This may vary from one company to another.

• Visit the official website of the respective insurance company.
• Choose the family health plan of your choice and fill in the details.
• Make an online premium payment. The policy document will be mailed to your registered email address.

You can also buy this insurance from the nearest provider's branch as well.

If for any reason you are unable to buy family health insurance from the insurer, PolicyX.com is there to assist you. Let's check out its buying process.

• Go to the top of this page and fill the details in the 'Get Quotes from Top Insurers' form.
• The next page will show you all the quotes from different companies. Choose your desired 'Family Health Plan'.
• Pay the premium online and your policy document will be shared on your registered email address.

How To File a Family Health Insurance Claim?

Every insurance company offers two ways of filing a claim-

For cashless claims, a policyholder needs to get admitted to any of the network hospitals (one can check the list of network hospitals on their insurance company's website), and then follow the below steps. These are standard steps, which may vary depending on the chosen insurance company.

• One needs to show his/her health card provided by the respective insurance company along with one identity proof at the hospital insurance desk.
• After validating your identity, the network hospital will submit the pre-authorization request form to your insurance company.
• The company will review the request and provide the confirmation to the network hospital and share the same with you via text or email.
• After the treatment, the company will settle the claim with the hospital.

If you are admitted to a non-network hospital, you need to inform the respective insurance company at the earliest (the timeframe may vary from one company to another). After the treatment is done, you need to pay the bills and then file a claim for reimbursement. The insurance company will review all the documents and provide the judgment (approval/rejection) after the same.

What Are The Exclusions Under Family Health Insurance?

The exclusions of family health insurance differ from company to company. Generally, the following medical expenses are not covered under such plans: