Medical care is expensive with the increase in technological advancements. Wouldn’t it be great if we could transfer our financial risks to someone? It is quite possible now, with the help of an insurance cover. From among the myriad options, one can select either life insurance or health insurance or even both for that matter to cover our financial risks for unforeseen emergencies. Both these types of insurance offer different coverages. Therefore, it becomes crucial to understand how they differ from each other before buying one.
As the name suggests, life insurance covers the life of the insured. The insurer agrees to pay the family, dependents or nominee a fixed sum in the event of an unfortunate eventuality to the insured. The insured can have peace of mind knowing the fact that their dependents have some monetary assistance in their absence. There are various types of life insurance policies as a term plan, endowment plan, Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP), whole life policies and more that help you insure your life. You can either select a plan with complete life coverage or one even with an investment component in it.
Health insurance, on the other hand, covers the cost of treating the ailment subject to the sum insured on the insurance policy. Often health insurance is interchangeably used with the term medical insurance whereas there are slight differences between the two. Mediclaim, for example, requires the insured to get hospitalized, whereas this is not the case under a health insurance policy.
Health insurance plans, cover you against hospitalization and medical expenses whereas a life insurance policy provides a cover against death of the insured to its nominees. You can avail tax benefits for premiums paid under both types of insurance under different sections of the Income Tax Act, 1961, Section 80C for life insurance policies and Section 80D for health insurance or mediclaim.
In case there are no diseases or ailments to the insured, under a life insurance policy, the premiums are returned at the maturity. In contrast, there are no expiry benefits in a health insurance policy other than by way of no claim bonus on renewals.
Health insurance policies are available for shorter durations like one or two or three years, whereas life covers are for a prolonged duration.
On analyses of the above points, one should include both in your investment portfolio. Health insurance is absolutely a no-brainer decision as medical emergencies can strike you at any given time. Likewise securing your life with life insurance can provide for added financial assistance to your near and dear ones. Make sure you select an appropriate amount of coverage of both the types of health insurance policies.