Health insurance in the present day and age is no luxury but a must-have financial backup for medical contingencies. At such time, buying a health insurance policy must be made factoring in the future cost of medical treatment. Hence, it is essential to buy a plan that not just covers the current price of therapy but also the expected increase in such cost. Further, the current medical inflation rate, as reported by Businessline, is around the 8% mark. Thus, any health insurance cover repurchased a couple of years without keeping such medical inflation in mind might prove to be insufficient.

While the next best solution to combat the growing medical inflation is buying a new insurance policy, it does require you to serve all the waiting periods right from day one. So, what can you do? It would help if you kept an eye on the plans that offer restoration benefits. This article elaborates on the restoration benefit that must be carefully checked when buying health insurance plans.

What is the restoration benefit of a health insurance policy?

Restoration benefit is a feature in health insurance plans that helps restore any used amount of claim to the original sum assured of the policy. It is a common feature generally offered for most family floater plans. And helps tackle any regular medical treatments that may be required for the same beneficiary or different beneficiaries. Considering the soaring treatment costs, a second hospitalization may be financially draining, and hence such feature benefits in the long run.

Moreover, any shortfall in the treatment cost is covered under this policy feature. Using this restoration benefit, you need not purchase multiple policies. While some insurance companies offer this feature as an add-on, a few others provide it as a bundled service. * Standard T&C Apply

What are the different types of restoration?

Restoration in health insurance is classified into two types, based on how the policy coverage is exhausted. One is restoration on complete exhaustion of the sum assured, while the other is restoration on partial exhaustion of the sum insured.

A case of complete exhaustion is where the sum assured is reinstated only when the entire policy cover is exhausted. Thus, only when all the base sum assured is used for treatments only then the policy is reinstated.

Contrary to how complete exhaustion works, partial fatigue restores the sum assured even when a part of the sum assured is claimed. Hence, you need not worry about your policy being inadequate as the coverage is restored each time used. * Standard T&C Apply

Should you consider buying a plan with restoration benefits?

The restoration benefit is an advisable feature in your policy to ensure the policy is restored to tackle the growing medical inflation. Family floater plans significantly benefit from this feature as you need not worry about the coverage falling short based on the current and future treatment costs. Thus, make sure to check at every health insurance renewal if your policy provides for a restoration benefit.

Some pointers to keep in mind when buying a health insurance plan with a restoration feature.

• If not used, the restoration feature cannot be carried forward to the subsequent policy period.
• Completely exhausted plans are restored only when the base sum insured is claimed in a single application.
• The family floater plan is the one that benefits the most out of such features as the coverage ‘floats’ among the different beneficiaries.
• You can get an estimate of your insurance premium with the help of a handy tool called a health insurance premium calculator.
• Lastly, such restoration benefits can be availed only by one beneficiary at once.

* Standard T&C Apply

Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms, and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.