Family Floater Health Plans

If you have a dependent family with a spouse, children, parents, and siblings, a health insurance policy for all the members is a must. A family floater health insurance plan is an economical way to get health insurance coverage for all family members in a single policy. In such a policy the sum insured is shared by all the family members. It is a cost-effective insurance plan which is a single floater policy with a single premium paid to cover the entire family. In this blog, we will go through the details of a family floater health insurance policy.

A family floater health insurance plan is a single plan you purchase to cover all the family members. The entire sum insured is available for all the members. If a family member has a health condition, the full coverage amount can be used in that member’s treatment. The large cover amount can be utilised towards the expensive treatment of one family member as the chances of more than one member requiring an expensive treatment at the same time are negligible.

Let us look at an example to better understand the working of a family floater plan. Assume that, you have a family floater policy of ₹ 20 lakhs for a family of 4. If one member needs a treatment worth ₹ 15 lakhs in a policy year, it will be covered under the policy. In another situation, if 2 members fall sick simultaneously and need hospitalisation costing ₹ 5 lakhs each, it will also be covered under the same floater policy.

A single family floater plan covers self, spouse, upto 4 dependent children (below 25 years), and parents or parents-in-law. Note that some insurance companies allow you to include siblings, aunts, or uncles also in your family floater plan.

A family floater plan is suitable for

• Young families where most members are young and may not need hospitalisation in the policy year.

• If no member has any major health condition, it is less likely that they will require any expensive medical treatment.

• If there is only one earning member who wants to claim tax benefits.

However, there are situations when a buying family floater plan is not suitable and should be avoided. If you have a family with senior citizens, a family floater plan may be expensive because the elders may need hospitalisation or expensive treatments using the entire cover amount and leaving the rest of the family without any health cover. Another situation where you should not consider buying a family floater plan is when there is more than one earning member looking for tax benefits.

The major advantages of a family floater health insurance plan include:

• Large cover at an affordable price - Floater plans are a cheaper way to get a large sum insured for your family compared to getting an individual plan for each member. Each member will have the same coverage. When a large cover amount is shared by all the members, the premiums are comparatively low.

• Easily manageable - Since all the family members are covered under one policy, it is much easier to manage as compared to managing separate policies for each family member. You have to renew just one policy and pay a single premium.

• Free health check-ups - Many insurers provide the facility of free health check-ups at the time of renewal. With a family floater plan, it will be easier to get all your family members examined regularly which otherwise would be a costly affair.

• Tax Benefits - A family floater health insurance plan can get you tax benefits on the premium paid towards the policy u/s 80D.

• Easy claim settlement - If there are claims for more than one family member, it is much easier to settle multiple claims in a single family floater plan than settling multiple claims in different individual plans.

There are certain considerations you should keep in mind if you are planning to buy a family floater health insurance plan.

• Coverage - It is the most important point to keep in mind. Choose a plan with a cover amount that is sufficient for every member

• Reinstatement Benefit - Select a plan which provides reinstatement benefit which means if the cover amount is exhausted in a policy year, it can be reinstated or restored. This comes in handy if one member uses the entire cover amount other members won’t be left without any cover in that policy year as it will be reinstated.

• Flexibility - A plan that is flexible enough to let you modify the coverage should be the ideal choice. In case you need to include additional coverage for a certain age-related health condition or maternity benefits, your plan should provide the facility to add these benefits.

• Free health check-ups - This is a must-have feature which you should not miss. Most family floater plans provide free health check-ups at the time of renewal. It will help you save a lot of money on regular health check-ups for your entire family.

If you are a young individual starting a family, a family floater health plan is the best health insurance cover for you. It is an inclusive policy for your entire family that can offer a high sum insured at a very low cost. It is a good and affordable alternative to buy separate individual plans for each member.