There is an old English adage that says “Health is wealth” and this is true considering the fact that you can achieve very little in life without good health. Fortunately, you can safeguard yourself and your family’s health by taking up a family medical insurance cover. A family medical insurance cover is designed to ensure that you can access the best medical facilities and not have to worry about settling any medical bills afterwards.
Inpatient Cover Limit
An inpatient cover comes to effect when any member of the family is admitted to hospital. This is usually the cheapest type of cover, relative to the amount of the coverage offered and the related cost or premium. This cover will take care of the cost of treatment and accommodation in the health facility, up-to the limit prescribed in the cover. However, the bed charges will be paid net of N.H.I.F, which means that a portion of the cost will be catered for by the National Hospital Insurance Fund. You should therefore ensure that all of your N.H.I.F payments are update to date, to avoid any additional charges.
Outpatient Cover Limit
This cover caters for the bills of the family members when they seek treatment in a hospital or clinic without admission. This is the most commonly utilized cover and therefore tends to be abit more expensive that the inpatient covers. You cannot buy this cover alone, without taking up an inpatient cover first. Some insurance companies insist on the members having the same cover limits, while others leave it open to choose what limit you would prefer for each family member. If you have certain members in your family who have a higher predisposition to utilize the outpatient cover than others, then it would be wise to choose a higher limit for those members and lower limit for those who don’t use it as often.
Individual versus Shared Cover Limits
Another important issue to consider is whether you would prefer to share your cover limit or have separate limits for each family member. The first option is cheaper than the second one, although you run the risk of a particular family member, fully utilizing the cover should they end in hospital with hefty medical bills, especially on an outpatient basis. The wise thing to do is to select a shared inpatient cover with a high cover limit and an individual outpatient cover limit for each family member, depending on the needs of each family member.
Waiting Periods
There are certain terms and conditions that come with a medical insurance contract. One of the things to consider are the waiting periods for certain medical conditions like hereditary diseases, chronic conditions like asthma, eczema, and maternity and related conditions. If you try to access a medical facility before the prescribed waiting period for those conditions, then the cover will not take care of the associated medical costs.
Maternity Limits
Perhaps one of the biggest concerns people look for in a family medical insurance plan, is the ability of that cover to take care of maternity related costs. For the most part, all medical plans do come with a maternity cover, although the scope of coverage offered tends to vary from each insurer. The first thing you need to consider is which hospital you would like to have your baby delivered and the cost charged for that service. The second thing to check is, if the cover only caters for the first ever emergency C-Section or also takes into consideration normal birth delivery and selective C-Section. Some companies like Resolution health and AAR insurance offers an “all-inclusive” type of maternity cover, which will caters for all associated maternity costs, up-to the limit selected by the policy holder.
Affordability
As much as we would all like to get a medical insurance policy, we need to consider how much it would cost. Some companies charge higher prices than others. It therefore behooves you to compare as many policies as possible to get the best deal. Once you have decided which policy suits you best, you have the option to the pay the cost of premium in full or pay in installments. This makes it more affordable, if you can break the total cost into manageable monthly premiums.
Additional Benefits
Some medical insurance covers will offer additional benefits for free, like dental, optical, Last Expenses (Funeral) cover, and so on. These additional extras will end up saving you money in the long term if you can get them in one insurance cover.
Let the experts at Afrinsure guide you on your needs.
By Afrinsure