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, purchasing a plan that covers the current price of therapy and the expected increase in such cost is essential. Further, the current medical inflation rate, as reported by Businessline, is around the 8% mark. Thus, any health insurance coverage repurchased a couple of years without considering such medical inflation might 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 benefits 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 claim amount to the original sum assured of the policy. It is a common feature generally offered for most family floater plans. It 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 features benefit 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, 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, the policy is reinstated only when all the base sum assured is used for treatments.

Contrary to complete exhaustion, 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 it is 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, check every health insurance renewal to see if your policy provides a restoration benefit.

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

• The restoration feature cannot be carried forward to the subsequent policy period if not used.
• Completely exhausted plans are restored only when the base sum insured is claimed in a single application.
• The family floater plan benefits the most from features such as coverage that ‘floats’ among the different beneficiaries.
• A health insurance premium calculator is a handy tool for estimating your insurance premium.
• Lastly, such restoration benefits can be availed only by one beneficiary.

* 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.