Is It Advisable to Buy A Super Top Up Health Insurance Along With Arogya Sanjeevani Policy?

ByAabidaha Shaikh

The uncertain times we live call for strict financial planning for the future. Every day brings its own surprises, some not so pleasant! Every time there’s a financial crisis, you scramble to meet it by emptying out your accounts, borrowing institutional loans or liquidating an investment. But these are not ideal measures, and they result in a loss of funds that you have accrued painstakingly over the years.

Instead, the prudent way out of future medical and other emergencies is to buy insurance. In today’s times, it is silly to ask ‘Do I need insurance?’ A more sensible question is, ‘How much insurance do I need?’ You must have a good health insurance policy, either with individual cover or a family floater advantage, that helps pay the costs of expensive hospitalisation and treatment in India. One such plan is the Arogya Sanjeevani Policy.

What is the Arogya Sanjeevani Policy?

It is a standard health insurance plan. It offers coverage to both individuals and families. It is an indemnity plan with a sum assured amount ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10,00,000. The following are salient points to note about this plan:

  • It was started from April 2020 and has found favour among those looking to buy a standard health insurance plan that offers coverage to families, with option to buy up to the maximum sum assured
  • Anyone from the age of 18 years to 65 years may buy this policy
  • It covers basic hospitalisation and related expenses
  • The policy has various sub limits on treatment costs and room rent. The room rent has sub limits of up to 2% of the sum assured. Meanwhile, ICU charges have sub limits up to 5% of the sum assured. This amount must be paid to the hospital in advance of taking the treatment, and the policy holder can claim a reimbursement under the plan
  • It covers a wide range of day care treatments. Basically, any treated or operation that requires a local or general anaesthetic and hospitalisation for less than 24 hours is covered. However, the Arogya Sanjeevani policy does not cover OPD costs and treatment.

Will it help to buy a top up with this policy?

A top-up policy is a health insurance plan that pays a claim after the entire sum assured of the primary health insurance plan has been claimed. For example, suppose you have a primary health insurance policy with sum assured of Rs 4 lakh. You purchase a top up plan with a deductible of Rs 5 lakh just in case the sum assured of your primary plan does not suffice for hospital treatment in one year. When you file a claim against the primary health plan for the entire Rs 4 lakh but require hospitalisation even after this in the same year, then a top up plan will help. However, the top up plan pays up only once a year and is not useful for multiple claims.

…or is a super top up plan better?

Meanwhile, a super top up health insurance plan offers the advantage of offering multiple claims in the same year over the primary health insurance. Thus, you may get the stipulated deductible amount after exhausting the sum assured on your primary plan. This feature is useful if you fear multiple hospitalisations in one year for yourself or a family member, and where having just a health insurance plan or a top up plan may not work.

There’s a third option…

If you are buying the Arogya Sanjeevani Policy for the first time on an individual basis, then you might not need a top up or super top up health insurance policy to supplement it. Do remember that the maximum coverage under the plan is Rs 10 lakh, which is sufficient for one year if you are buying an individual plan. However, you might consider a super top up health insurance policy if you are buying a family floater policy. One more thing to do is to buy a comprehensive health insurance plan for the entire family without any top ups.

Do contact a reputed health insurance provider in India to buy the Arogya Sanjeevani health insurance plan today.