If you are looking to buy health insurance for your entire family, you should look at investigating family floater health insurance plans. They could reduce your premium costs and increase your coverage.
Let us learn about the difference between individual health insurance and family health insurance (Floater health insurance) and their advantages over individual health insurance plans.
What is a family floater health insurance plan?
A family floater health insurance plan is a single health insurance policy that provides coverage to your entire family. You do not need to buy different health insurance policies for different members of your family. A single policy will provide protection to your entire family. Let us understand the concept of a floater policy with the help of an example.
Example
Mr. Srinath has a family of 4; he, his wife and his 2 sons. He wants to buy a health plan that covers his entire family. He buys a floater health insurance policy from Reliance General Insurance with a coverage of Rs 30 Lakhs. If any of his family members get hospitalized, they can get coverage under this one single policy. The premium costs of this policy will also be much lower compared to an individual policy of similar value.
Difference between individual and family health insurance plans
| Individual Health Insurance | Floater Health Insurance | |
| Does it provide coverage to the entire family? | No. It only provides coverage to a single policyholder | Yes. A floater policy will provide coverage to the entire family. |
| Does this plan cover parents? | No | Yes. A floater policy can provide coverage to aging parents and even in laws. |
| What is cheaper? | Since this is an exclusive policy, the per person premium cost will be higher. | Since this is a non exclusive policy, the per person premium cost will be lower compared to an individual policy. |
| Is it widely available? | Yes. This is the most widely available health insurance policy. | Yes. A floater health plan is also very widely available. Most health insurance companies have this type of plan. |
| Is it suitable for a large family? | No. Only suitable for one person | This plan could be suitable for a large family but you should ensure that the coverage amount is adequate to cover all members of the family. |
| How is the premium amount decided? | Based on the policyholder | Based on the most senior member of the family. |
| Can the policy be ported? | Yes. An individual health insurance policy can easily be ported to another insurance company if the policyholder chooses to do so. | Yes. There are no restrictions in porting a floater health insurance policy to another insurance provider. |
Hope this article has given you a brief understanding of individual and floater health insurance companies and the difference between the two. We hope you will use this information to make a smart health care decision for yourself and your family.