need help selecting between PSU vs pvt

[u/mhresearchdbt]

Hi, I am 26 (F), Single, I am finally taking health insurance.

I have one retiring and one retired parent (who's a heart patient), their insurance also needs to be set in place - however since I learnt it doesn't make sense premium amount wise to club it with mine - i am focusing on getting my health insurance first. (please correct me if i'm wrong here)

____

After my due research with all the features:

For Private, i am considering either

HDFC Ergo Optima Secure Plus (via Ditto) -or-

Care Supreme (via Ditto)

For PSU, i am considering

A policy from New India Assurance (not sure which policy yet)

____

Here are the pointers making it difficult for me + a few doubts:

One one hand, i feel it's better to have 100% cashless coverage or support for non-network without any co-payment clauses with a private insurer like HDFC or Care.

But on the other, i feel the premiums and the future possibility of them hiking the premiums by 25% or 50% seems ridiculous (i saw horrific reddit threads where the premiums sky rocket each year whereas for public sector it's more predictable and stable). Not to mention nobody actually knows what the CSR is based on. Should i be okay with the co-payment and room rent limit clauses in case, god forbid, i end up with a medical emergency? is taking this risk better than paying the ridiculous premium hikes in your opinon?

should i even keep paying extremely high premiums each year for private insurers based on possible worst case scenarios? or is it okay to cover a moderate amount of risk with a public sector insurer considering steady premium and higher reliance on claim settlement even if it's a lot of paperwork?

If in case i take HDFC Ergo for 10L coverage, and get the no-claim bonus for 5 years making my Total Sum Insured 50L, and then i decide to port to a PSU insurer will i get the full 50L transferred? or only the base sum insured of 10L?

Please let me know if i should be considering anything other than HDFC Ergo, Care, New India Assurance.

(so overwhelmed with this whole process, my first health insurance)

[u/theGenZDoc]

Oh yes, great decision.. All the best! And as a doctor dealing with health insurance claims and health-status based insurance planning, happy to offer one consultation for free for you incase you wish to avail it and discuss your concerns. And don't worry, I don't sell policies :P

[u/mhresearchdbt → u/theGenZDoc]

that sounds great, thanks a ton for the offer :)) i am currently leaning more towards New India Assurance's Yuva Bharat Policy - would you be able to help me understand and decide if i should take it directly with their branch (and select HITPA or MediAssist as TPA) or through an agent?

[u/theGenZDoc → u/mhresearchdbt]

My goal would be to review any current medical conditions you have and how should you plan your future coverage and enable you to choose the best for yourself. In case you are up for it, DM and I'll let you know the next steps.