No thumb rule to fix ideal health insurance amount: Expert

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sanjay Tiwari, HDFC Life shared his views on health insurance and how should invest in them.

Also Read: All you wanted to know about new insurance guidelines Below is the verbatim transcript of Tiwari's interview with CNBC-TV18. Q: How much health insurance cover does an individual need and what are the factors that need to be taken into consideration? A: Health insurance is very important and there is no thumb rule. If a person is a salaried class individual then some kind of medical coverage is offered by the employer and an additional Rs 3-4 lakh insurance should be taken by the individual and in addition to this a family floaters, which covers the family members should also be taken. As I said there is no specified thumb rule but one has to take in consideration the kind of lifestyle one needs and that’s one of the key factor; age, age of the dependents and the city one lives in because the cost of health expenses and everything else is dependent upon the city one is living in. In the last five years from 2007 to 2012, an average cost of surgery has increased from 50 percent to 60 percent whether its cataract or some coronary artery bypass or other common surgeries. These surgeries are very common so insurance should be enough to take care of such expenses on yearly basis.