Planning to buy health insurance? Here’s why family-floater plans are better

When it comes to health insurance, most families rely only on the group health insurance cover offered by their employer. But there are families in which each member holds individual policies under which he or she is insured for a small sum.

Given the rising medical inflation, individual health plans with a small quantum of insurance cover may not be sufficient. So it’s important to have a separate family-floater health plan to take care of your family in the event of a medical emergency.

What is a family-floater health insurance plan?

A family-floater plan is nothing but a health insurance policy for the entire family.

"It covers all the members under a single umbrella of health insurance. Here, the chosen sum insured is available for the entire family in case of a health emergency and its related expenses. This feature itself gives it the name 'Family Floater', as the sum insured floats among all the family members for use," said Mahavir Chopra, Director - Health, Life and Strategic Initiatives, Coverfox.

The logic behind purchasing such a plan is that there would rarely be an instance of the entire family falling sick and needing hospitalisation or other health-related services at the same time.

Why must one have a family-floater plan?

The sole reason for why one should opt for a family-floater health insurance plan is health inflation, which is currently rising at a rapid pace.

"Modern lifestyle, stressful working conditions and new age diseases have acted as a stimulus in raising the health care costs. If one wishes to protect his hard-earned income from the claws of health expenses, a floater health cover is absolutely necessary," Chopra said.

As is the case with most things, buying insurance in bulk is always better. A family-floater plan will cover the entire family under one policy and will therefore, cost less than multiple individual policies.

"One of the key benefit is the premium paid for a family floater plan will be lesser than opting for an individual plans for each family member," said Anurag Rastogi, Member of Executive Management, HDFC ERGO General Insurance.

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Savings by purchasing a family floater plan compare to individual plan

Key points to check while buying a family floater plan

Before buying a family-floater health insurance plan, one should consider the age of his or her family members. Present ailments, if any, must also be considered and so should the family's medical history.

"Compare various family floater plans and understand the track record of the company in terms of claim settlement," said Bhaskar Nerurkar, Head, Health Administration Team, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

"Apart from premium difference of individual and floater policy, one should also check for sub limit applicable, renewable conditions, no claim bonus and other continuity benefits, etc. before opting for a family floater policy," said Jyoti Punja, Chief Customer Officer, Cigna TTK Health Insurance.

Anurag Rastogi of HDFC ERGO General Insurance was of the opinion that one must consider pre-existing ailments of all family members before purchasing the policy, so that any member with a condition could be insured separately.

"One must also check for any pre-existing diseases, as it would be beneficial to cover a person with medical history separately, for reason that his or her claim might utilize the entire sum insured in event a major claim. In such cases, policies with restoration or regain benefit would be helpful to choose from," he said.

Difference between individual plans and family-floater plans