A health insurance product provides standard coverage as per the policy terms to all its policyholders. However, the health risk may vary from one person to another, and some policyholders may require additional protection towards specific health risks in some cases. So, to address the needs of such policyholders, many health insurance companies these days offer optional add-ons/riders along with their base health policy.
A policyholder can choose the appropriate riders in addition to their base health policy to enhance the features and coverage benefits. Here are some of the important health insurance riders that you may add to your base health policy to enhance your coverage, especially after retirement.
Critical Illness Rider To Meet Sudden Financial Shock
While the base health policy provides comprehensive coverage against hospitalisation expenses, in some ailments, the financial requirement can be more than just the treatment cost. For example, in the treatment of cancer, cardiac issues, kidney failure, etc., there can be an extra financial burden due to longer recovery time and lack of income.
So, under the critical illness rider, the patient gets agreed lump sum amount to meet the financial needs when they are diagnosed with an illness covered in it. Critical illness cover can help retirees reduce the financial burden on their retirement corpus when getting treated for life life-threatening ailment.
OPD Rider Can Be Helpful For Senior People
Senior people are more susceptible to disease, and they may require frequent OPD consultations. Often, OPD fees are not covered in basic health policy, so it can be a huge financial burden after retirement. Having an OPD rider can allow a claim towards consultation fees and prescribed medication bills. Some insurance companies also cover the dental treatment.
Inflation Protection Rider
The insurance cover that you have purchased now may not be sufficient after 10 or 20 years. At a later age, if you are diagnosed with a serious ailment, then it can make the situation more complicated because it usually becomes difficult to increase the coverage size. So, an inflation protection rider increases the size of your health policy on a regular interval, and you don’t need to worry about coverage even if you are diagnosed with a serious health issue in the future.
Other Important Riders
Apart from the riders mentioned above, you can also explore other riders offered by the insurance companies, such as waiver of premium on permanent or partial disability, an add-on for claim of air ambulance charges, and a daily cash allowance, etc. Availability of a rider may vary from policy to policy as well as from company to company, so check the details of various rider options in a health insurance product before buying it.
The author is an independent financial journalist
