the only way to protect yourself from a financial disaster after a medical emergency is adequate medical insurance here are a few tips to cut back on the premium 1 buy a health plan from your bank public sector banks have cobranded health insurance products with usually public sector general insurersthese are exclusive and cheaper plans for their customers for instance while a rs 5 lakh parivar mediclaim policy for a family of four from national insurance costs rs 17972 annually a similar familyfloater baroda health policy a tieup with national insurance will cost only rs 7079 yearly these plans are ideal for senior citizens though one major shortcoming is that the maximum age of renewal is usually 80 yearsalso the maximum coverage you can get is rs 5 lakh since these are tieup products there is a risk of discontinuation of the plan in which case you have the option to port the policy 2 buy a smaller cover and top it up dont buy the highest cover size available the cheaper solution is to opt for a basic indemnity plan of say around rs 5 lakh and then add a super topup health plan to it so while a rs 10 lakh indemnity cover for a 30year old costs around rs 9000 to rs 12000 annually a combination of a rs 5 lakh indemnity cover plus a rs 5 lakh super topup costs just rs 65007000 note that the deductible amount should never be higher than sum insured and you buy a rs super topup not a regular one 3 separate cover for older members adding your parents to your family floater is a bad idea consider this a rs 5 lakh family floater from max bupa which covers a nuclear family costs around rs 13000 if you add your seniorcitizen parents to this the cost shoots up to rs 46000 a difference of rs 33000a separate cover for parents costs rs 30000 not only there is a difference of rs 3000 in the premium a separate one for parents means the total cover size also increases to rs 10 lakh 4 cash for smaller needs comprehensive health plans will cover you headtotoe but the costs are also exponentially high for instance a rs 5 lakh premium health plan with opd benefits and other exclusive benefits will cost around rs 20000 while a standard plan is available for rs 5000plus you can always buy a health card to avail discounts since these plans offer preventive health checkups as part of the product the members are eligible for tax benefit of up to rs 5000 under section 80d 5 buy for a longer tenure buy online enquire and ask for a discount before you pay the premium some offer discounts for buying online others for sharing your purchase on your social networking site and then there are loyalty reward points that can be redeemed as discount on premium the public sector general insurers offer discount to customers who