Investing in a health insurance plan has become a mandatory requirement today for the wellbeing and future security of you and your family. Different insurers offer different kinds of health plans with different features, riders, deductibles, etc. Now, not all individual has the same needs. Thus, there is an option of customization of health plans. They are made more robust with the provision of riders. Here we understand what it is, their requirement and their different types.
Defining Riders
In layman’s terms, a rider is additional coverage that you add to your basic health plan to make it more robust and beneficial for you. The additional coverage offers come to you at a comparatively cheaper cost than what you would have paid had it been a separate health plan. The insurance regulatory board had capped the rider premium cost to not exceed 30% of the base health plan.
Need and Importance of Riders
A Health Insurance Rider means an additional cost to your base health plan cost.. One has to be thoughtful and selective when it comes to deciding to go for riders. They are contingent additional benefits that helps you only in cases of specific eventuality and gives you additional financial cover over your basic health plan. They can help you pay off your debt and cover any other financial stress that can potentially arise in the future.
But their needs are highly personal. For instance, you have the maternity cover available as a rider. It is only useful for women who would be looking to become a mother sometime in the future. However, riders like critical illness cover, accidental death benefit, etc. can be beneficial for all.
Top Health Insurance Riders
Now that we understand the importance and applicability of riders, let’s walk through some of the most popular riders that can be applicable for most of the policyholders.
- Room rent waiver
A major component of the hospital bills is the room rent. By including the room rent waiver rider in your health plan, you can raise the sublimit on it or even eliminate the sublimit from your base plan. The rider helps you to choose a room of your choice anytime without worrying about its rising cost or needing to pay it from your pocket.
- Hospital cash
There are plenty of other hospital costs and expenses during hospitalization that is never covered under the base health plan. You can get those expenses covered with this rider. Under this rider, the policyholder gets a daily cash from the insurer for these expenses. You are given this once during your policy tenure and given for certain days as mentioned in your health insurance plan.
- Critical illness cover
IRDAI has listed certain diseases under critical illness which are normally not covered under the base health plan. These diseases are often critical and fatal in nature. They include diseases like cancer, kidney failure, heart attack, organ transplant, etc. By purchasing this rider, you get a lump sum from the insurer if you get diagnosed with any of these diseases. The sum is given to you irrespective of the expenses incurred during the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
- Personal Accident Rider
This rider provided you financial protection against all kinds of accidents during your policy tenure including temporary total disablement, permanent partial/total disablement, and accidental death. The rider comes at a minimal cost and comes as a big financial relief not only for hospital expenses but also for any other unplanned expenses. Also known as double indemnity rider; the policyholder gets double the amount of sum insured in the scenario of death as a result of accidental bodily injury.
- Waiver of premium rider
This rider is highly useful for those who live almost on a shoestring budget and face financial constraints. This rider keeps your insurance plan going even if you are no longer paying the premium in case you are no longer earning due to any health issues, impairment or other issues. It helps your policy from getting lapsed and keeps it active when a financial misfortune hits you.
- Maternity and new-born add-on
The rider is only applicable to those couples who are looking for becoming parents in the near future. Under this cover, not only the expenses for child-birth are covered but the new-born baby also gets covered against any medical contingencies. This rider is highly advantageous for those who need it as the maternity expenses in India are quite high.
Wrapping up
Hopefully, you are well educated on the riders by now. You must keep an eye on these riders at the time of purchasing or renewing your health policy. They enhance your coverage at a very less premium.
