How much insurance is needed for a healthy 31-yr-old bachelor?

– Name withheld on request

The right level of sum assured depends largely on where you live and are likely to get hospitalized. The most expensive are the ‘luxury hospitals’ in metros, and the costs increase as you go to smaller towns. Even within the same hospital, the cost of a surgery could vary by 30 to 40% depending on the type of room chosen.

As a rule of thumb, one should buy coverage that is at least equal to their annual income, or a minimum sum assured of ₹10 lakh. This should be further revised upwards in case the individual has an adverse family medical history.

Do keep in mind that the sum assured should be high enough to factor in medical inflation over the years.

Typically, family floaters are most cost-effective. However, in your case because you are an adult and there is likely to be at least a 20-year age difference with your parents, you should buy an independent policy for yourself and consider insuring your parents in a family floater.

It is important to have your own health insurance even if you are covered in a corporate plan because you may change jobs or your current company can modify their health insurance benefits over time.

I am 58 years of age and will be retiring in the next couple of years. I was so far covered under my corporate insurance policy. Please suggest a good health insurance plan for me and my 54-year-old wife. Do note that my wife is a heart patient and I am a diabetic. Should we go for senior citizen-specific plan or a regular health policy? Is there any difference in such plans? What amount of coverage should we look at?

—Name withheld on request

Senior citizen plans are designed to cater to people within a higher age group and with some pre-existing diseases. The regular plans generally have stricter policy issuance criteria. Most senior citizen plans offer coverage for pre-existing conditions faster than the regular plans. However, such plans carry higher sub-limits. The sum assured available under senior citizen plans are also lower than the regular plans.

You should first apply for a regular plan. In case there is any challenge in the policy issuance, then it would make sense to apply for the senior citizen plan.

You should have a coverage of at least ₹10 lakh.

Abhishek Bondia is principal officer and managing director, SecureNow.in.