Choosing the best health insurance? Here's the criteria

 

 One of the things you should think about when deciding to start your own business and stop working, is health costs. How do I finance it? One of them is by taking out health insurance. 

But the question is, how to choose the best health insurance? Before choosing the best insurance, it's good to know first what is meant by health insurance.

Health insurance is insurance that provides reimbursement of health costs if the policyholder is hospitalized due to illness or accident. The amount of reimbursement according to the number of bills from the hospital with a certain limit based on the insurance plan taken. Insurance is part of how to manage family finances.

Health insurance is different from critical illness insurance. Critical illness insurance provides cash compensation if suffering from a certain critical illness. Cash compensation is given once on a lump-sum basis or premium payment at once. Before looking at each offer, it's a good thing to discuss first what the ideal criteria are.

Best Health Insurance Criteria

According to various literature and opinions of financial planners (what and how financial planners work here), these are things that should be considered.

1. Cashless Payments

With the use of this feature, claim replacement becomes easier. When you enter the hospital, you do not have to pay, but simply complete the bill by swiping the insurance card.  No need to pay upfront, which then still has to be reimbursed to insurance (reimbursement).

However, this feature requires that the hospital where you are treated has cooperated with the Insurance because the hospital must have and install a machine to swipe the insurance card. If it does not cooperate, even though the insurance has a claims system like this, you are forced to keep paying upfront and then settle with reimbursement.

2. Ceiling and Premium As Needed and Ability

If the scheme is taken lower, when later hospitalized, you will have to incur additional costs to cover deficiencies that are not guaranteed insurance. Of course, the height of the ceiling is directly related to the amount of premiums. The more expensive the price of a hospital room, the more expensive the premium price to be paid.

Adjust the premium to the ability, do not even later burden your finances. It must be ready for a trade-off between premiums and ceilings.
Although often not easy, because of health issues, such as the selection of hospital rooms, people are more emotional and tend to want to be comfortable and nice, the implication of expensive room prices. Ideally the ceiling of health flares is chosen according to your wishes and abilities.

3. No Limit Per Treatment

There is a limit or ceiling that limits the maximum number of health expense claims. Generally, insurance applies two types of limits, first is the combined limit of all treatments and the second is the limit per treatment. For example, the first limit limits the combined cost of treatment to Rp 250 million in a year, while the second limit limits the cost of surgical treatment to Rp 10 million a year, consultation fees rp 10 million a year and so on.

There are insurance that only uses the first limit, some are only the second limit and there are also those who use both limits simultaneously. It is better to choose insurance that applies the first limit, or in other words do not limit the cost per treatment. This means that flexible policyholders seek various treatments as long as the total limit is still there. Insurance that limits with the first limit and the second limit is, of course, the least ideal.

4. Prioritize Hospitalization

Health costs include outpatient and inpatient. It is best to focus on insurance that covers the cost of hospitalization because this treatment costs the most. If you have more money, you can take out additional outpatient insurance.

5. Waiting Period for Disease

Health insurance requires a waiting period, some diseases cannot be claimed for a certain period of time from the date of the insurance validity period. For example, Cigna determined the following disease could only be claimed 12 months later, namely asthma; TUBERCULOSIS (Tuberculosis); kidney, urinary tract and bladder stones; high blood (hypertension), heart and blood vessels; Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus); Vertigo; And others. Ask the insurance company what is in the waiting period and how long.

6. Pay Attention to Credit Card Auto Debit Payments

Although it seems easy and usually premiums are paid monthly (so it looks lighter), please be careful to make payments with auto-debit credit cards (want to know how to manage credit cards, see here). If forced to use this method because insurance does not provide other payment alternatives, make sure you know when the payment starts and how the process will be if you want to stop.

7. Avoid Taking Health Insurance by Phone

Health insurance offers through tele-marketing began to appear a lot. Usually work with credit card issuers. Related to products that are quite complex, such as health insurance, you should reflect, analyze and if you have time to do research, before making a decision.

Therefore, I do not recommend taking immediate decisions when offering by telemarketing. Some of you may have experienced for yourself the speed and conciseness of the bidding process, so a lot of detailed info that can not be conveyed because of limited time. If it is interested and takes time to think about it, you can ask for the contact number of the insurance, which you can later contact when it is ready.

8. Pure Health Insurance

Choose a stand-alone health insurance, not a unit-link life insurance rider.  Why? Expensive! In unit-links, premiums will be divided for life insurance, investment and new health insurance. Portions for health become small, so you have to pay more to get a higher ceiling. Not to mention, a number of unit-link cost deductions are not small, which further reduces health premiums. In pure insurance premiums are reserved solely for health cost coverage and cost deductions are also not as big as the cost in unit-link, so premiums become cheaper or the value of coverage becomes higher. If you want proof, compare the value of coverage and the amount of premiums between pure health insurance and health insurance that is part of the unit-link. 

Why Are The Criteria for Choosing Health Insurance Important?

By knowing what criteria are needed, you can choose the right and appropriate insurance. Not only that, it can help you anticipate things that will make it difficult for you later. Lastly, make sure the Health Insurance you choose meets the best insurance criteria.