Corona Kavach Policy or Top Up Plan, Which One Should You Buy In Addition To Your Existing Health Insurance Cover
Introduction
The coronavirus pandemic has led all of us to think hard about our health insurance coverage. In these times, many are buying health insurance for the first time. Many others who already have it are considering increasing their insurance coverage. With the existing health insurance plans in India, you can look at these two options:
Buy Corona Kavach health insurance policy
Add a top-up or a super top-up health insurance plan to your existing health insurance
Let us look at pros and cons for both the options:
Corona Kavach policy
Corona Kavach policy is a policy that provides insurance only for the novel coronavirus disease treatment. IRDAI issued a directive, post which the insurance companies of India launched this standard Corona cover.
Pros
Policy coverage: Corona Kavach health insurance policy covers you for expenses such as room rent, nursing cost, ICU cost, co-morbidities, PPE costs, surgeon’s fee, doctor’s consultation fees, etc. over and above hospitalisation expenses. There is no cap on the room rent expense in the policy because of the shortage of rooms in hospitals.
One-time payment: For the Corona Kavach policy cover, you pay the premium only once at the time of purchase. Other health insurance plans in India require periodic premium payments.
Less waiting period: For getting the cover of Corona Kavach policy, you have to wait for 15 days only. You are eligible to make a claim and get coverage benefit 15 days after making the purchase.
Affordable premium: The Corona Kavach policy offers insurance against Covid-19 to individuals for 3.5 months, 6.5 months, or 9.5 months. The premium cost for the coverage is low when compared to the premium for a complete annually renewable medical cover.
Covers AYUSH treatment: The policy covers AYUSH treatment expenses like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy.
Cons
Short-term cover: While the payment for the Corona Kavach policy is a one-time, it is also specifically designed for a short-term. As per the IRDAI guidelines, the policy can be issued until March 31, 2021. Thus, the policy can be bought before March 31, 2021. It continues until 3.5 months, 6.5 months or 9.5 months, whichever is the chosen policy period.
Treatment only for Covid-19: The Corona Kavach health insurance policy is designed to cover treatment and hospitalisation costs of only Covid-19. No other diseases are covered under this policy.
Limited sum insured: The sum insured for Coronavirus treatment and hospitalisation is limited to Rs 5 lakh.
Nonrenewable: You can’t have Corona Kavach health insurance post-March 2021. You’ll need a regular health policy post that covers ailments like kidney, cancer, heart, liver, etc. and accidental injuries that requires hospitalisation.
Top-up or super top-up health insurance plan
All the existing indemnity and mediclaim health insurance policies cover Covid-19 treatment costs. But, having adequate sum insured is very important. To increase the sum insured of your base policy, you can buy additional insurance with a top-up or a super top-up plan.
Pros
Wide coverage: A top-up plan offers insurance coverage against many medical emergencies. It provides a wider financial coverage, which can be of help when the limit of your base policy gets exhausted.
Helps with the inflation: A top-up plan helps you with the growing inflation rate. It lets you have a high sum assured at a small premium.
Covers pre-existing disease: Even when your base health insurance plan does not cover pre-existing illnesses, a top-up plan can cover them.
Lifelong renewability: A top-up plan covers most ailments and offers lifelong renewability.
Cons
Waiting period: Top-up and super top-up plans generally have a waiting period of 30 days.
Deductible: The top-up plans come with the deductible clause. Under this clause, you can claim your top-up plan only when your medical expenses cross a particular amount.
What should you buy
The first thing you should do is evaluate your current health policy. Decide whether you’d like to opt for a short-duration specific disease cover or a top-up plan depending upon your risk outlook.
