An individual that has a health insurance plan in place is usually one that will live a life that has fewer stress. He knows he has a plan in place to look after him should any medical emergency arises. without burdening the family. There are various health insurance plans available for an individual to choose from. This simple guide will also help in choosing the best mediclaim policy if one has a basic understanding of what a good insurance plan covering health should include.  

There are four choices or types of health care costs available – major medical coverage, indemnity insurance, managed care coverage and basic health insurance. Each of these cover health care costs in various ways and in varying degrees. Each is designed to serve individuals with different needs.  

The various steps that one must look at and consider before choosing a good health insurance are: 

• The main reason why anyone avails a health insurance is to have some sort of financial support. Over the recent years there has been a significant increase in health care costs and at the same time an increase in lifestyle diseases as well as patients with critical illness. Keeping this in mind a plan that provides cover of a significant amount should be selected. Always choosing the cheapest options is not the most advisable thing to do as one does not know what unexpected events might occur.  

• The network of hospitals under the policy and the eligibility of the room that one can claim coverage against should come within the strata that you would usually visit. If one occupies a category of room that is higher than what is eligible then the patient and his family will be forced to pay the difference amount as the policy will not cover the same. It is always smart to go for a plan that offers a good category room or no limits on the rent of the room.  
• Some plans will not pay the entire amount of the bill and you will have to pay a certain percentage of the same. This comes under the co-payment clause which states the percentage of bill that has to be borne by the patient. One must check for a policy that expects the minimum payment from the patient.  
• A good policy should cover all the day-care treatments and not ideally have a limit on these.  
• The individual might have some personal requirement which varies from person to person like for example a newly married couple might look at an added maternity coverage along with the health coverage. Thus it is important to keep future requirements in mind.  
• A good plan should also provide free health checkups, health coaching, assessment and evaluation of medical reports and monetary rewards.  

• Good companies have a clause of a no-claim bonus where a customer is rewarded for having no claims in a single year. There is usually an increase in the sum for this and can come in handy during the period of inflation.   

On the part of the customer, they should give full disclosure of their medical history to the insurance company and not hold anything back in terms of health related information.