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Unlike many of the life insurance plans, medical insurance will not fetch you the insured sum with bonus and additions. In fact, it will only increase your overall expenses by 5 per cent in the years that you don`t file a claim. Further, you should keep in mind that the expense is recurring, as you have to renew the policy every year to keep it valid.

But then, you wouldn`t really mind these inconveniences. Because God forbid, if you fall ill, mediclaim will prove handy as you could get a really inflated hospital bill, with hospitalisation being so expensive. Just trying to figure out where to get the money from could actually make you sick all over again!

Mediclaim. This one`s for you if you are looking for pure medical cover. The plan reimburses your hospital bills up to Rs.3 lakhs and can be bought from GIC or any of its four subsidiaries - Oriental Insurance, National Insurance, New India Assurance and United India Insurance.

New India also offers a few variations to the Mediclaim policy, like Tertiary Care Insurance (which covers only major illness), Long-term Hospitalisation/Domiciliary Insurance (where you can insure yourself for five or ten years), and the Long-term Retirement Medical Benefit Plan for individuals.

The Senior Citizen`s Unit Plan (SCUP) from UTI can be bought by anyone between 18 and 54 years of age. You have to make a one-time payment, depending on your age, for an insurance cover of Rs.2.5 lakhs for you and your spouse. The cover is available after you attain the age of 58. After you complete 61 years, the cover can go up to Rs.5 lakhs. However, if you have made any claims in earlier years, then this amount will automatically reduce the enhanced cover of Rs.5 lakhs.

Bottom line. So if you are not entitled for medical re-imbursement, then Mediclaim and its variations from New India are attractive, since they reimburse your medical bills and hospitalisation charges. As the Senior Citizens plan comes into effect only after 58 years, it will prove to be a good post-retirement plan.