Key idea
You can insure each person separately, or cover the whole family under one shared pool. Each suits a different stage of life.
Health cover comes in two broad shapes. An individual plan gives each person their own sum insured. A family floater puts everyone under one shared sum that any member can draw on.
How they differ
Family floater
- One shared sum for all
- Cheaper for a young family
- Any member can use it
- But: one big claim can exhaust it
Individual plans
- Separate sum per person
- Costs more overall
- One person's claim does not affect others
- Better as members age or fall ill
The catch with floaters
A floater is efficient while everyone is young and healthy, but it has a weakness: if one member has a large claim, the shared pool can be used up, leaving the rest exposed for the year. And premiums for a floater are often driven by the oldest member, which is why adding elderly parents to a young family's floater can be costly.
A common pattern is a floater for the young nuclear family and separate individual cover for elderly parents, so their higher risk does not inflate or drain everyone's pool. The right mix depends on your family's ages and health.
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