"Health is Wealth" is an old saying, which depicts a sense that a good health is as important as hundreds of thousands of bucks. A person with good health can work efficiently to earn wealth to lead a quality life. In the other hand, a person who is not having a good health spends lot of wealth to regain the health. According to an Arabic proverb, "He, who has health, has hope; and he, who has hope, has everything". All of these sayings imply the same thought that a good health has a great importance, and it cannot be compromised.
So, don"t we need to take necessary steps to protect it? Since, despite all precautions, the possibility of an accident or illness cannot be ruled out; we need to be prepared for any eventuality. In such tragic circumstances, we fall prey to the dual economic crisis "" first, we are abandoned to work because of poor health, and second, bound to pay huge hospitalisation and medicine expenses. Thus, our hard-earned money, which was supposed to be used in some development works, incurred in illness. And, sometimes we are even forced to borrow from outside the family.

According to a study by World Health Organisation (WHO) on the impact of rising health expenditure, in India about 40 per cent of low-income families have to borrow money from outside the families to meet their healthcare expenses; which has pushed 16% of them below poverty line.
Therefore, to safeguard any eventuality, we must have a health insurance policy of appropriate sum assured. But, today, there are plenty of health insurance products of various insurers available in the market, which requires extra research and awareness to choose best suited out of them. However, today, in the information technology era, there are various insurance aggregators present in the market which enables insurance buyers to do thorough research before buying. These websites help them choose best suited products at reasonable premiums. Insurance buyers are always advised to do extensive research before buying any products.
There are few points which need to be kept in mind before buying insurance products:
1.Premiums and Coverages: Expensive insurance policies are not necessarily always good. If premiums are identical, benefits such as OPD, Hospitalisation Cash "" Benefit, coverage of Critical Illness etc. should be reviewed. If your major concern is to save on premium, buy such product which offers lesser benefits but never compromise with the sum-assured.
2.Basic Hospitalisation Cover: If your pocket doesn"t allow you to buy a comprehensive health insurance policy, must buy a basic health insurance plan, which at least will payout expenses incurred out of an accident or illness.
3.Sum Assured: Sum-Assured can be determined on the basis of the city you live in and your family size. Keep it in mind that health-care cost in big cities is always higher than it in smaller cities, so determine sum-assured accordingly. Typically, sum-assured of Rs 2 to 3 lac, and Rs 5 to 6 lac for a family of 3 to 4 members in small and big cities respectively, are considered appropriate.
4.Family Floater Policy: It is always recommended to buy a family floater health insurance policy instead of individual policy. Under family floater policy, each member in the policy can utilise sum-assured either individually or collectively. Thus, you can save on premium.

5.Separate Policy for Parents: Generally, in family floater policies, premium amount is calculated on the basis of the age of the eldest member, thereby we need to pay higher premiums. Therefore, it is always advisable to have separate policy for parents, and save on premium.

6.Day - Care Procedures: Before buying insurance, have a look at the list of diseases covered under Day - Care Procedures.

7.Exclusions: Before signing on the policy document, policy buyers should go through it very carefully. And, also ask insurance agent about the terms and conditions of the policy. In any policy, exclusion part is very important because it mentions the diseases which are not covered under the policy.

8.Maternity Benefit: Normally, policy provides maternity "" benefit after a waiting period of two to four years. Therefore, make sure whether you need this feature during the period. If you don"t require, don"t buy such product as these have higher premiums.

9.Top-Up: If your employer has provided you a health insurance policy, and you want a policy of higher sum-assured or coverage of critical illness, you don"t need to buy separate policy. For this, you can top-up your existing policy with required sum-assured and benefits. Doing this, you can save on premiums.

10.Claim Settlement Ratio: See claim settlement ration before buying insurance because this is the most important aspect of the insurance.

11.Network-Hospitals: Make sure there is a good network hospital around you; because in case of an emergency you don"t need to travel long distance. And, also prefer the insurer with high number of network hospitals.