For every individual, taking care of the family is an important part of life. While we all work hard to provide them with the best of everything in life, we also need to ensure that they stay healthy. Since health problems can occur at any time and to any member of your family, you must stay prepared to deal with them by buying a family floater health insurance.
Family floater health insurance plans in India help ensure financial protection from the rising healthcare expenses in the country. Let’s cover family floater insurance in detail.
What is Family Floater Health Insurance?
Family floater health insurance is a type of health insurance that provides protection to all the members of a family under a single plan. In general, it covers your spouse, parents, and children under a common premium.
Family floater health plans can be customized as per the unique needs of your family members. They cover critical illnesses, pre-and post-hospitalization expenses, healthcare checkups, and a lot more. The exact coverage benefits of any such insurance plan depend on the plan and insurance company you choose. Hence, it is advisable that you know about the different features and benefits of family floater insurance before buying any plan.
The primary purpose of buying family floater health insurance is to ensure that your loved ones can get the best medical facilities whenever needed without causing financial worries. The insurance coverage helps pay off the medical bills, doctor’s fees, and other expenses related to the treatment.
How Does Family Floater Health Insurance Work?
Family floater insurance comes with a fixed insurance cover (sum insured) that can be used by all the family members insured under one plan. For example, if you bought a family floater health insurance plan with a sum insured of Rs. 15 Lakhs and then raised a claim of Rs. 10 Lakhs for your father’s knee surgery. After getting the insurance claim, the plan has Rs. 5 Lakhs remaining in it, which can be claimed by one or more family members in the remaining year.
If the medical treatment costs more than the sum insured chosen for family floater health insurance, then you have to incur the additional amount required for the treatment from your pocket. Besides this, the rest of the family members cannot make any more claims in that particular year.
What is the Difference Between Individual and Family Floater Health Insurance?
The following table compares family floater insurance with individual health insurance:
| Individual Health Insurance | Family Floater Health Insurance |
| It covers only one person in each plan | It covers you and your family members under one plan. |
| Health insurance premium and sum insured cannot be shared. | Both health insurance premium and sum insured are shared amongst all family members |
| Coverage is lot more expensive | Coverage is limited for each insured individual |
| Getting an adequate sum insured for an individual is easier. | Sum insured chosen may not be enough for all members insured under the family floater plan. |
| It is highly recommended for bigger families. | Family floater health insurance work well for small families. |
| Including add-ons is highly recommended. | Choosing high sum insured is highly recommended. |
| It might be difficult to track and remember the premium due dates of all the policies. | It is easy to track the premium of the plan. |
Also Read: All About Individual Health Insurance
What are the Key Benefits/Advantages of Buying Family Floater Health Insurance?
There are several benefits you can avail with a family floater health insurance policy. These include:
- Cashless hospitalization expense cover in the network hospitals
- Health insurance coverage for all family members under one plan (in-laws can also be included)
- Affordable premium in comparison to buying an individual health insurance plan for all members
- Easy to add new family members to the plan by paying an extra premium
- Covid-insurance coverage included** (as specified in the inclusion terms of different policies)
- Tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act
- Easy to increase the sum insured when required
- Easy to buy family floater insurance online
- Options to include add-ons for additional benefits
How to Choose the Right Family Floater Health Insurance Plan?
Consider the following aspects in mind to select the most suitable family floater health insurance in India:
- Select adequate sum assured to cover the needs of all your family members (also assess their age, health history, cost of medical treatment in your city, etc.)
- Check the coverage clause and waiting period for pre-existing illnesses that your loved ones have already been diagnosed with
- Check the list of riders/add-ons available with the base insurance plans and their costs (include them only if necessary)
- Ask about the claim settlement process of the chosen insurer and select the one that has a higher claim settlement ratio
- Compare family floater health insurance premiums and evaluate them against the plan features to make an informed decision
Who Should Buy Family Floater Health Insurance?
In an ideal scenario, every individual who wants to stay prepared for any medical emergency related to the family members should buy a family floater health plan. It is particularly useful for a married individual having kids and elderly parents.
Why Should You Buy a Family Floater Health Insurance Policy?
In the current fast-paced life, most people follow an unhealthy lifestyle which places their health at a higher risk of health problems. Diagnosis of lifestyle diseases, unfortunate accidents, or contraction of contagious disease has become more common than ever before. To weigh over all of this, there is rising medical inflation.
A medical emergency can occur at any time and to any of your loved ones irrespective of age, location, or gender. Hence, it is advisable to cover all your family members under one family floater health insurance policy and enjoy its benefits (stated above).
Why Buy Family Floater Health Insurance Online?
Here are the top reasons to buy a family floater plan online from a renowned health insurance company:
- Easy to compare different policies
- Easy to purchase
- Security of payment transactions
- No need to deal with local agents
- Clear and transparent terms
- Easy to find family floater health insurance from all major insurance providers
- Instant quotes
- Quick policy issuance
What are the Eligibility Criteria to Buy Family Floater Health Insurance?
Every family health insurance plan available in India comes with its eligibility criteria for the prospects, which may vary from similar plans offered by other insurers. In general, the eligibility for an individual to purchase a family floater policy is defined below:
| Parameter | Eligibility Specifications |
| Minimum age at entry | 18 years for adults
90 days for children |
| Maximum age at entry | 65 years for adults
25 years for children |
| Coverage for | Self, spouse, dependent parents and parents-in-law, dependent children |
| Can Be Renewed | For Lifetime |
You should also know that:
- Inclusion of more members to a family health plan is done at the cost of additional premium.
- The policy expires when the eldest family member reaches the maximum age limit.
- It is advisable to increase the sum insured in case you choose to add more members to the existing plan.
- Family floater health insurance no longer covers dependent children after they cross the specified age limit.
- Including members who are more than 45 years of age generally requires them to undergo medical tests.
What is Covered in Family Floater Health Insurance?
The general inclusions related to family floater insurance are as follows:
- In-patient hospitalization expenses
- Ambulance charges
- Day care procedures
- Maternity cover
- Pre- and post-hospitalization expenses
- Organ donor expenses
- Domiciliary treatment
- AYUSH treatment
- Mental illness treatment
- Daily cash allowance
- Pre-existing disease coverage
- Pre-policy medical check-up
- Lifelong renewability
Keep in mind that the exact coverage benefits depend on the specific plan and insurer you select.
What is Not Covered in a Family Floater Insurance Plan?
Policy exclusions refer to the instances or situations where the policy does not provide insurance benefits. For family floater health insurance, the common exclusions are:
- Routine health checkups and OPD treatments
- Aesthetic treatment/plastic surgeries
- Treatment availed overseas unless included in the plan
- Life support machine expenses
- Injuries or illnesses resulting from nuclear reaction, war conditions, etc.
- Injuries resulting from criminal activities
- Expenses related to child-birth or pregnancy-related complications
- Pre-existing medical conditions during their waiting period (covered after the waiting period is over)
Things to Consider While Buying a Family Floater Insurance Policy
- Select a plan that offers adequate protection to all your family members in terms of sum insured
- Choose a plan that provides the option to increase sum insured during renewals
- Look for cashless hospitalization facility
- Consider the maximum renewal age
- Check the claim settlement process
What are the Documents Required to Buy Family Health Insurance?
- Proof of identity and address for all family members
- Proof of age
- Medical reports (for members above the age of 45 in general)
How to File a Claim Under Your Family Health Insurance Plan?
There are two ways in which you can file a claim for benefits under your family health plan. Given below are the steps to be followed for each of these ways:
Cashless Claim
- Inform the insurer about the healthcare emergency
- Fill the pre-authorization form at the insurance desk within the network hospital you visit
- Submit the form with other documents to the hospital, that will forward the same to your insurance company
- If the claim is approved, you will receive a letter of approval from the insurer
- For any queries related to the claim, the insurer’s team will contact the hospital and settle the bills directly
- If it does not get approved, you will need to file a reimbursement claim
Reimbursement Claim
If you proceed with taking the treatment in a non-network hospital, follow the steps given below to file a claim:
- Intimate the insurance company about the medical emergency
- Receive the treatment at the chosen hospital
- Pay the bills and collect all the documents after the patient gets discharged
- Submit the filled-in claim form along with required documents and bills to the insurer
- After reviewing your claim, you will be notified about the approval or rejection of your claim
- Once approved, you will receive the claim amount in your bank account
List of Popular Family Floater Health Insurance Plans
- Bajaj Allianz Health Guard Plan
- Aditya Birla Activ Health Platinum Plan
- Care Health Insurance Plan
- Bharti AXA Smart Super Health Insurance Policy
- Digit Health Care Plus Policy
- Cholamandalam Healthline Insurance Policy
- Future Generali Future Health Suraksha Plan
- Edelweiss Health Insurance Policy
- Kotak Mahindra Health Care Policy
- IFFCO Tokio Family Health Protector Policy
- Liberty Secure Health Connect Policy
- ManipalCigna ProHealth Insurance Plan
- New India Assurance Floater Mediclaim Policy
- Royal Sundaram Lifeline Insurance Policy
Family Floater Health Insurance FAQs
What is family floater insurance?
It refers to the type of health insurance that can cover your entire family under one plan by paying a single premium.
How many family members can be covered under a family floater policy?
It depends on the plan and insurance company you select.
What if the entire sum insured is utilized in the treatment of one member?
Most insurers limit the insurance benefits to the chosen sum insured in a calendar year. It means if a member utilizes the entire sum insured, you cannot raise a claim for any other member in that year.
What are the documents required to file a claim under family health insurance?
The documents include policy document, duly filled claim form, hospital discharge report, consultation report, and hospital bills.
How can I add family members to my existing family floater health plan?
You can do this at the time of renewal by paying an additional premium for member inclusion.
What happens in case of the death of the primary insured person?
In case of death of the primary insured person or when he/she reaches the maximum age of renewability, any other adult member can continue with the policy after proposing the required change to the insurer.
Is family health insurance better than individual health insurance?
Both these types of insurance policies have their pros and cons. You must understand how these policies work and their benefits before buying any of them.
Is the cashless facility available with family floater health insurance?
Yes, you can get cashless facility by availing the treatment in the network hospital.
Is there any waiting period associated with family health plans?
The waiting period may vary as per the plan you choose. You are advised to ask for its specific details before buying any plan.
You May Like to Read: All About Health Insurance Waiting Period
Get All-Inclusive Information About Family Floater Health Insurance at BimaBandhu
The health of each of your family members matters to you. At BimaBandhu, what matters the most to us is that you make an informed decision of buying the best family floater health insurance. We aim to help individuals with reliable information about various facets related to buying family health insurance.
