Kolkata: Insurance is a friend in dire need. However, often an insurance policy falls short of the requirements that a person might feel in real life. This is where the usefulness of riders come in. A health insurance rider is an extra benefit or coverage that the policyholder gets after paying an additional amount on and above the policy premium. It ensures enhanced coverage which will otherwise not be offered by the insurance company.
There are a few riders that a policyholder can buy along with the main health insurance policy. The policyholder has to select the riders which he/she wants to buy at the time of purchasing the policy itself. Let’s have a look at some of the important health insurance riders that insurance companies offer.
Rider for Day 1 PED coverage
In health insurance terminology, a “PED rider” refers to a rider that reduces/waives the waiting period for pre-existing diseases (PEDs). Usually, a health insurance cover specifies waiting period that can range between two and three years before it pays for pre-existing diseases such as asthma, hypertension and diabetes. But if a policyholder buys this rider, it allows protection from the first day itself from preexisting diseases. It is quite obvious that this can become one of most significant ‘add-ons’.
Critical illness rider
As the name indicates, this rider is for illnesses that concern the vital organs of the body and can be life threatening. The illnesses that are mentioned under this umbrella number above 30 and includes Cancer of specified severity, angioplasty, heart attack, heart valve surgery, cardiomyopathy, blindness, chronic lung disease, chronic liver disease, kidney failure, major organ transplant, bone marrow transplant, benign brain tumour, brain surgery, coma, major head trauma, permanent paralysis of limbs, Alzheimer’s disease, motor neurone disease with permanent symptoms, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, deafness, loss of speech, major burns etc. A policy with a critical illness rider provides the policyholder a one-time lumpsum payment in case he/she is diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses mentioned in the policy. Usually this rider has a waiting period of 90 days from the date of issuance of the policy. It is also usually one time.
Maternity rider
If you are married and want to opt for a family this rider can be very useful. It covers expenses related to pregnancy and childbirth. Expenses related to the delivery process, pre and post-natal care and some expenditure of the newborn are taken care of by this policy. The waiting period for this rider can vary from nine months to six years.
Unlimited automatic restoration
In an age when the cost of treatment and hospitalisation is rising fast, the utility of this rider need not be emphasised. It restores the sum insured an unlimited number of times in case the primary policy if your base policy gets exhausted. Quite a few insurance companies offer this rider without any waiting period.
Room rent waiver rider
If you want to stay in a room of higher rent, then this is the rider for you, If you buy this rider, there will be no limits on hospital room rent. Need less to say this is a non-medical cost.
OPD rider
If you have to frequently visit doctors — and not necessarily get admitted to a hospital — this rider can serve you well. This rider covers expenses required for a medical procedure or examination in the OPD and can include consultation fee of the doctor, tests and costs of medicine.
There are other riders such as global cover rider, which allows costs to be reimbursed if you get treated overseas, which can be quite high. But the point to note is that one will be covered if the policyholder is recommended for treatment abroad by Indian physicians.
Riders can be of great significance to a policyholder since the basic health insurance policy can fall short in many situations. Various riders are required for various situations and they must be bought when the basic policy is purchased. Personal Finance Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
