Health Insurance Riders

Enhance your coverage - Riders allow you to enhance your base health plan by providing coverage for specific conditions or treatments that may not be completely covered in the base policy. For example, you can add a critical illness rider to get extra coverage for major illnesses.

Customise as per your needs - Riders provide the flexibility to customise your health insurance as per your specific requirements. For instance, if you are into adventure sports, you can opt for an adventure sports rider. You can choose an international travel insurance rider if you travel frequently overseas.

Available at marginal cost - Most riders come at a relatively low extra cost compared to the high costs associated with the treatments they cover. For example, while a critical illness treatment could cost several lakhs, you can buy a critical illness rider for just a few thousand rupees annually.

Widen the scope of protection - Certain expenses like ambulance charges, hospital cash allowance etc may be excluded or have some limits under your base policy. Riders help bridge these gaps effectively. So you get wider health protection.

Enhance financial security - Expenses from serious illnesses, accidents, or other contingencies can wipe out savings built over years. Riders provide the financial backup to prevent such adversity.

Get coverage for pre-existing diseases - The base health plans often do not cover pre-existing conditions or have a waiting period before they can be claimed. But with a special rider for pre-existing diseases, you can get coverage for existing illnesses right from day one. This provides much-needed financial aid and peace of mind.

Protect your family's future - There are special riders that provide your family with financial protection even after your demise. For instance, some riders pay out the entire sum insured to your nominee in case of the death of the policyholder. This way, your family remains financially secure in your absence.  

Type of Riders: A critical illness rider providing substantial coverage of severe diseases like cancer, strokes, etc. tends to have higher premiums than a less comprehensive value-added rider providing hospital cash allowance, etc. So, the premium increment is directly related to the scope of coverage, benefits, and risks the rider covers.

Your Age: If you are on the higher side of age, premiums for specific riders like critical illness rider, personal accident cover, etc., which rely more on health condition, would be more expensive than premiums for a younger person for the same riders. 

Pre-existing health status: If you suffer from pre-existing illnesses, premiums could be higher for relevant riders providing coverage for existing diseases or associated health risks. Someone with a clean medical history is likely to get such riders at lower premiums.

Tenure and Sum Insured: A rider providing coverage for a longer tenure and higher sum insured leads to higher premiums than a lower tenure and sum insured. For the same rider, a person opting for an SI of ₹30 lakh may need to pay a higher premium vs someone going for a lower ₹10 lakh SI.

Insurer: Premium rates for the same kind of rider can vary significantly across different health insurers. So comparing premiums across 2-3 health providers before zeroing in on a specific rider is wise. Sometimes, a slightly less comprehensive rider from one insurance firm is more economical than a higher variant from another provider.