- Features and benefits
- Best riders
- Types of riders
What is a Health Insurance Rider?
A health insurance rider is an add-on to your basic health insurance policy. It enhances your health insurance policy, by providing extra coverage for some specific medical expenses or situations that might not be covered by the main policy.
Wait, I will tell you more about its types, features and benefits, how it can help you, and how to buy. Read below to know more about it in detail.
It gives customized coverage.
You can tailor your health insurance policy as per your healthcare requirements. For example, suppose you are working in a hazardous place, or have a travelling job, in which there is a lot of risk of an accident, then a disability rider or personal accident rider can give you additional protection over your base health insurance.
Expand your coverage for better features
Let us say, according to your family history, you are prone to some critical illness. So, with the critical illness rider, you can expand your coverage.
Additional benefits to your health insurance
Riders like room rent waiver, hospital daily cash, and maternity alongside of your basic health plan will give you additional benefits.
You can reduce your waiting period
With riders like, day 1 PED coverage rider, and reduction in PED waiting period, you can reduce the applied waiting period on specific diseases.
Can be very cost-effective
Instead of buying a whole new policy for your specific needs, you can get a specific rider/s to fulfil that need. In a way, riders offer a more affordable way to enhance your basic coverage.
Top Health Insurance Companies with Riders
| Health Insurance Companies | Available Riders |
|---|---|
| Star Health Insurance Company | Star Buy Back Pre-existing Diseases, Star Hospital Cash, Star Deductible, Star Lump Sum for Cancer |
| Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company | Niva Bupa Safeguard, Niva Bupa Personal Accident Cover, Niva Bupa Hospital Cash, Niva Bupa Critical Illness, Niva Bupa E-consultation |
| ManipalCigna Health Insurance Company | ManipalCigna Health 360 (variants available) |
| Reliance Health Insurance | Reliance Smart Protector, Reliance Double Cover, Reliance change in pre-existing waiting period, Reliance Mother and Child Care Cover |
Types of Health Insurance Riders
- Critical Illness Rider
Provides lump sum benefit to the policyholder which will be equal to the sum insured amount in case you are diagnosed with a critical illness. - OPD Rider
Treatments that require less than 24 hours such as consultation by the doctor, diagnostic tests, medicines, etc. will be covered here. - Maternity Rider
It covers all the expenses related to pregnancy and at times, even for the newborn baby which includes vaccination coverage for the 1 year. - Unlimited Restoration of the Sum Insured
This rider restores the amount of sum insured up to an unlimited number of times in the year after you have exhausted your total sum insured amount. - Room Rent Waiver
This rider allows you to remove the coverage limit on the hospital room rent. This way you can opt for a room with higher rent but not paying anything extra for it! - Reduction in the PED Waiting Period
Normally, most base health plans have a waiting period for pre-existing diseases. This rider automatically reduces the waiting period to cover pre-existing diseases. - Day 1 PED Coverage Rider
So, this rider is highly necessary for you if you are dealing with diseases like hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and hyperlipidemia. It waives off all the PED waiting periods and gives coverage from day 1. - Hospital Daily Cash
As the name suggests, having this rider allows your insurer to give daily cash during hospitalisation for extra expenses like food, medicines, etc. that are not covered by your regular health plan. - Personal Accident Cover
In case of an accident, if there is total or partial disability or death, the insurer and their family members will get benefits like nominee payout, child education grant, funeral expenses cover, and payout cover in case of unemployment due to the accidental consequences.
How Riders Can Affect Your Premiums?
These riders can slightly affect your premiums. But this depends upon some factors, such as,
- The type of rider you choose
- Age of the policyholder
- Pre-existing disease’s health status
- Policy tenure
- Sum insured you chose
How to get a health insurance rider?
You can visit PolicyX to compare the policies and riders offered by them. Understand their terms and conditions before buying the policy and the riders. Inform your insurer about the rider you want, they will calculate the premiums for you.
FYI- Read your policy documents carefully before paying the premiums.
End Note
I hope we have cleared your doubts for ’What is health insurance rider’ clearly. To read more such articles, you can visit the article section of PolicyX.com.
Health Insurer Network Hospitals
Health Insurance Riders: FAQs
1. What is the difference between rider and add-on cover?
Riders are incorporated into the same policy, while add-ons might be a separate policy with their own terms.
2. Can I add multiple riders to my health insurance policy?
Yes, you can add as many riders as you want if provided by the policy.
3. Can I add a rider after buying the policy?
You can add a rider during the renewal of the policy.
4. Can I remove the riders later?
Yes, you can remove the rider during the policy renewal process.
5. Can I purchase as a rider separately from the base policy?
No, riders come along with your base policy. So, to buy a rider, you need to get a base health insurance policy first.
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Written By: Simran Saxena
An explorer and a curious person, Simran has worked in the field of insurance for more than 3 years. Travelling and writing are her only passion and hobby. Her main agenda is to transform insurance information into a piece that is easy to understand and seamlessly solves the reader’s query.
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