Optimising Your Medical Insurance: A Complete Guide to Health Insurance Riders for Enhanced Coverage
In today's world, medical insurance is crucial for every individual. Medical expenses are rising, and adequate coverage can give you financial security and peace of mind in an unforeseen medical emergency.
While most medical insurance plans offer basic coverage, adding a health insurance rider can provide enhanced coverage and protection. This article will explore what health insurance riders are, how they work, the different types, and their importance.
What is a rider?
A rider is a provision added to an existing insurance policy to enhance its coverage. It provides additional benefits beyond the basic scope of the original policy. Riders are usually available as optional benefits that can be added to a medical insurance policy at an additional cost.
How do health insurance riders work?
Health insurance riders provide additional coverage to your medical insurance policy. However, this will come with an additional premium for the extra coverage. The cost of the premium depends on the type of rider and the coverage amount.
For example, adding a critical illness rider to your policy means the insurance company will provide the additional coverage amount mentioned in the rider if you’re diagnosed with a critical illness. This is in addition to the basic coverage of your policy.
Types of health insurance riders
One can add different types of health insurance riders to their medical insurance policy. Some common types are:
Critical illness cover
A critical illness rider offers protection against certain acute diseases, including renal failure, cancer, heart attack, and stroke. In practice, the insurance provider will provide a lump sum payment if one is diagnosed with a serious illness covered by the rider. Consequently, the payout can be used for medical costs, lost wages, and other associated costs.
Maternity cover rider
A maternity cover rider covers maternity-related expenses such as prenatal and postnatal care, delivery expenses, and complications arising from childbirth. This rider can be helpful for individuals or couples planning to have a child.
Accidental disability rider
An accidental disability rider provides coverage for accidental disability or death. This rider can be helpful in cases of accidents that can lead to a disability, such as loss of limbs or paralysis.
Hospital cash
A hospital cash rider gives a defined amount of coverage for each day of hospitalisation for a certain number of days. The coverage amount is also paid in the event of ICU or critical unit hospitalisation or as a lump sum in the event of surgery.
Room rent waiver
A room rent waiver rider provides coverage for higher room rent charges in the event of hospitalisation. This rider can be helpful if you prefer a higher-category room in a hospital.
Are riders necessary for your medical insurance?
Adding a rider to one's medical insurance policy will give them greater protection and coverage. However, their needs and medical history mainly determine the type of rider required.
For example, if one’s family has a history of a particular disease, adding a critical illness rider to their policy might provide financial protection in the event of a diagnosis.
Similarly, if one seeks to have a child, they can add a "maternity insurance rider" to their policy to help pay for pregnancy and childbirth costs. It is, therefore, essential to consider one’s needs and the possible advantages of adding a rider to their health insurance policy.
Prudential health insurance riders
Prudential is a leading insurance provider that offers various health insurance riders to enhance one’s medical insurance coverage. Some health insurance riders offered by Prudential are:
PRUValue Med
PRUValue Med is a health insurance rider that provides coverage for hospitalisation expenses, surgical expenses, and outpatient treatment. This rider also covers critical illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.
PRUMillion Med
PRUMillion Med is a health insurance rider that provides comprehensive coverage for hospitalisation expenses, including ICU care, surgical expenses, organ and bone marrow transplants, and outpatient treatment.
This rider also provides coverage for critical illnesses and accidental disability. In practice, PRUMillion Med offers a lifetime limit of up to RM5 million and a no-claim discount of up to 20% on the rider premium.
Overall, adding these riders to one’s medical insurance policy can provide enhanced coverage and protection for them and their family.
Conclusion
In summary, health insurance riders provide enhanced coverage and protection beyond the basic coverage of one’s medical insurance policy. Riders such as critical illness cover, maternity cover, accidental disability cover, hospital cash, and room rent waiver can provide financial protection in medical emergencies.
Therefore, it is important to carefully assess one’s needs and evaluate the potential benefits of adding a rider to their medical insurance policy.
Fortunately, Prudential offers various health insurance riders that can be added to one’s medical insurance policy to provide comprehensive coverage. As alluded to earlier, these riders can be precisely customised to meet one’s specific needs and provide financial security in medical emergencies. Let us know if you want to add riders to your medical insurance today.
For more on purchasing medical insurance, read ‘What To Consider Before Choosing A Medical Insurance Plan In Malaysia?’