Supplemental plans to fill up coverage gaps in student health plans

October 31, 2019

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Health Insurance, Supplemental coverage, Supplemental Insurance

Student Health insurance plans mostly come in as bundles of benefits. When one pays premium for health insurance, he or she insures oneself against a number of diseases and situations which may require medical attention. However, despite their wide coverage, many health insurance plans do not provide cover against certain diseases, sicknesses and situations which require unique and specialized treatment.

In this blog, Student Cover helps you understand certain useful supplemental health insurance plans that can fill the gap in coverage left behind by Student health insurance plans. We also discuss their benefits.

Why do we need supplemental coverage?

As mentioned above, supplemental plans are purchased in order to provide cover for certain specialized disease and illnesses that normal health insurance plans do not cover. One can opt for supplemental coverage as an add-on to the existing health plan.

What are the benefits of supplemental health insurance?

Save cost: Unlike standalone health insurance plans, the supplementary plans come as add-on to the regular health insurance plans due to which they are cost only a fraction of the total cost. Another reason for them being cost-effective is that they are focused in one or two specific areas of treatment and do not provide bundles of benefits like general health insurance plans.

Included in the single plan: An insurance plan is useful if it can meet the insured’s requirements with minimal paperwork and documentation. These supplemental plans are combined with the general plans and hence do not require the insured to do additional paperwork or meet documentary requirements to get compensated by the insurance provider.

Can be discontinued any time: There are many benefits which a person doesn’t normally need. For example, a man may not need pregnancy care. However, when these benefits come packed in a bundle one has only two choices – either take it all or leave it all. The supplemental plans on the other hand have specific benefits which one can discontinue at the time of renewal without having to forego other benefits of general plan.

Are specialized in nature: The supplementary plans have specialized focus, they provide cover for specific diseases which require specialized treatment. This narrows down the scope of coverage but helps the insured avail services that one can avail within that narrow range. For example, supplementary plan for dental coverage would only cover for treatment related to pain or disease related to teeth. However, it covers for surgery, tooth removal and other dental care services required by the insured.

Provide a lot of options: Supplemental plans provide a lot of options for the buyers to choose from. They, being specifically targeted for certain diseases and treatments can offer add-on cover for any set of specialized treatment.

Major Supplemental Health Insurance coverage

Vision Insurance – These supplemental plans provide coverage specific to the eye. The general health insurance plans also provide cover for eye treatment but such treatment is restricted to those needed in case of accident or injury. For those with pre-existing eye problem and may require regular eye checkups, eye glasses or contact lenses, such supplemental plans are helpful. Many supplemental plans also have provision for extensive treatment such as surgery for cataract etc.

Dental Insurance – Tooth decay is the most common problem that people face. It requires regular check up and cleaning. However, going to a dentist might be very costly. And since the general insurance plans treatment only for natural tooth in case of accident or injury, a supplemental plan is helpful in keeping teeth healthy. They have provisions for regular checkups and treatment for an disease, pain or other tooth related ailments.

Critical illness insurance – These may either be separate for each illness or may come in bundle. The critical illness plans compensate the insured if they are suffer from benign brain tumor, Heart Attack, Stroke, Life-Threatening Cancer, Advanced Alzheimer’s disease etc.

Cancer insurance – This supplemental plan is very useful for those who have higher risk of suffering from cancer due to lifestyle choices. While cancer insurance is often clubbed with critical illness plans, they also come as separate supplemental options. These plans cover diagnostic and treatment cost for those who develop cancer over time.

However, one should note that despite being supplemental plan, the premium for cancer insurance can be a bit higher than the usual. Nevertheless, it helps patients in meeting the cost of treatment.

Let’s Wrap Up!

Supplemental health insurance plans are designed to fill the gap in coverage of regular health insurance plans. They offer specialized coverage and can be added to the regular plans. Other than being relatively cheap, they allow a person to exit the plan without effecting the main plan. Some common supplemental insurance plans include vision insurance, dental insurance, critical illness insurance and cancer insurance.

Disclaimer: The content of the following article is based on the personal research of the writer. Readers are advised to go through the policy documents of health insurance plans and exercise discretion while purchasing them. Student Cover will not be held liable for any wrongful interpretation of the content of this article.

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