Health insurers are getting innovative and are offering jumbo benefits to customers. After ICICI Lombard’s ‘Elevate’ that offers infinite sum insured, 100% cumulative bonus and unlimited restoration benefits and Star Health Insurance’s ‘Super Star’ that provides similar benefits along with the option to lock in your age at entry, wherein premiums are fixed at the entry age until a claim is paid, Care Healthcare has come up with ‘Ultimate Care’ that provides ‘premium payback’ wherein the premium is refunded if no claims are made in the first five years.
These three plans from leading insurers offer unique features to insured persons. Here are some of the key benefits that these plans provide.
Premium payback: If the insured person opts for this benefit and no claim is made for the preceding five consecutive policy years, then the company will refund the first policy year premium of the base plan. “This benefit shall be payable only once in every block of five years,” Care said.
Unlimited cover: The company will cover the hospitalisation expenses of the insured person without any restriction/ limits on the annual ‘Sum Insured’ for any one claim during the policy’s lifetime. But this is subject to conditions.
“This benefit can be opted only during the inception of the policy irrespective of policy tenure. Once opted, the insured person should continue this benefit for five continuous policy years,” Care said. The benefit, however, is subject to all limits, sub limits, co-payments and deductibles.
Tenure multiplier: This benefit allows insured persons to combine the annual ‘Sum Insured’ of the policy across the entire policy tenure in case of a multi-year policy. It can be utilised once during the entire policy period for a single claim. This benefit would, however, be subject to all applicable limits, sub limits, co-payments and deductibles.
For instance, if the insured person has a three-year policy with annual ‘Sum Insured’ of ₹5 lakh, the total coverage available under this benefit shall be ₹15 lakh ( ₹5 lakh x three-year policy period).
Loyalty boost: If the insured person does not make any claims for seven consecutive years, then the company will provide an additional 100% of the ‘Sum Insured’ as ‘Loyalty Boost’. “Waiting period shall be waived off for this additional ‘Sum Insured’,” the company said.
Infinity bonus: The insured person would receive a flat 100% of the base ‘Sum Insured’ on a cumulative basis as infinity bonus irrespective of claim for unlimited period (which is over and above the ‘Sum Insured’ accrued as cumulative bonus), for each completed and continuous policy year.
Unlimited automatic recharge: The insurer would automatically re-instate an amount up to the base ‘Sum Insured’ unlimited times in a policy year. But this is subject to conditions that include no ‘carry forward of the recharge’.
Instant cover: The company will waive off the applicable PED (pre-existing diseases) waiting period on diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, asthma, obesity, hypothyroidism and coronary artery disease if coronary angioplasty is done a year before buying the policy. The coverage will start from the 31st day of policy start date.
‘Ultimate Care’ also offers cover for maternity-related expenses, new born baby, vaccination, assisted reproduction treatment including surrogacy and oocyte care. Customers have to wait for 36 months for pre-existing diseases to be covered.
Infinite sum insured: The policy covers medical expenses incurred by the insured person for any one claim during the lifetime of the policy without any limits. “Once opted, the optional cover has to be opted continuously by the insured person until any one claim is made under this cover,” ICICI said.
Power booster (Guaranteed super bonus): If the insured person opts for this, a cumulative bonus of 100% of expiring or renewed annual ‘Sum Insured’ (whichever is lower) is provided at the end of each policy year irrespective of a claim being initiated. But the policy has to be continuously renewed and the power booster can be accumulated. “This cover shall not be available to policies with unlimited annual sum insured,” ICICI said.
Jumpstart: Under this, chronic diseases such as asthma are covered from the 31st day of the policy if the insured declares that he has the same when he buys the policy. The diseases covered include diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, obesity, coronary artery disease if coronary angioplasty is done a year before buying the policy.
Reset benefit: ICICI will reset (restore) up to 100% of the annual ‘Sum Insured’ for any illness/disease/injury for unlimited times, which is subject to conditions. “This benefit will not be available for policies with unlimited ‘Sum Insured’ options. The reset benefit will not be triggered for the first claim made during the policy year. The total amount of reset will not exceed the annual ‘Sum Insured’ for that policy year,” ICICI said.
‘Elevate’ also covers maternity-related expenses, new born baby treatment costs, assisted reproduction treatments including surrogacy and oocyte care. Customers have to wait for 36 months during which pre-existing diseases are not covered.
Freeze your age: The insured’s age is locked at entry when they are insured for the first time under the policy and are continuously covered under subsequent renewals, till a claim is incurred under in-patient treatment / day care treatment / Ayush treatment under basic cover or when they attain the age of 56 years, whichever is earlier. For instance, if you buy the policy when you are 30 years old, you will continue to pay the same premium every year till you make a claim.
“This benefit will be available only for those insured members whose age at the inception of first coverage under this policy is up to 50 years. This benefit shall cease once the insured member attains the age of 56 years irrespective of whether claim has been made or not,” Star Health said.
Limitless care: The policy will offer coverage for the insured person for any one claim during the lifetime of the policy without any limits on the ‘Sum Insured’. But the optional cover has to be opted continuously until any one claim is made under this cover. Once a claim has been made, the cover will cease to exist.
Quick shield: Under this, chronic diseases are covered after 30 days. They include diabetes, hypertension, asthma, hyperlipidaemia and coronary artery disease if coronary angioplasty is done a year before buying the policy.
Automatic restoration of sum insured: The policy provides automatic restoration of sum insured for unlimited number of times and a maximum of up to 100% each time, which can be utilised for a subsequent hospitalisation. “The maximum payable amount for a single claim under restoration benefit shall not be more than the ‘Sum Insured’,” the company said. The unutilized restored ‘Sum Insured’ cannot be carried forward to the next policy year and the benefit is not applicable to policies with ‘Unlimited Sum insured’.
‘Super Star’ also provides cover for maternity-related expenses, new born baby treatment costs, vaccination, assisted reproduction treatment including surrogacy and oocyte care. The waiting period for non-coverage of pre-existing diseases is 36 months.
Allirajan M is a journalist with over two decades of experience. He has worked with several leading media organisations in the country and has been writing on mutual funds for nearly 16 years.
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