Most of us believe that health insurance is limited to paying our hospital bills when we fall sick. Unaware of advantages of health insurance, most individuals continue living without health insurance.

What needs to be learnt is that benefits of health insurance go beyond protecting us and our family from unexpected high medical costs. There are numerous benefits of health insurance apart from paying your hospital expenses which people are unaware of. One of such benefits is that it can help you save tax. Read on to find out tax benefits of health insurance.

Benefits Of Health Insurance

• Protection of your and your family's health
• Paying unexpected high medical costs
• Enjoying tax benefits

Tax Benefits Of Health Insurance

Under Section 80D of Income Tax Act, the premium paid for a Health Insurance policy can be deducted from the total income of an individual or a HUF.

• The amount of deduction available is up to Rs 25,000 on Health Insurance policy for self, spouse, dependent children and parents, for individuals below 60 years of age.
• An assessee can claim a deduction up to Rs. 30,000 on taxable income, if the parents of the assessee are senior citizens. Thus, a person can claim deductions of up to Rs. 55,000 if the individual is below 60 years of age while either of the parent is above 60 years of age.
• For Health Insurance premium paid for parents, further deductions up to Rs 60,000 can be claimed. If the individual as well as parents are senior citizens (above 60 years of age).

Note: To avail the tax benefit, make sure that you make the payments by any mode of payment (via credit card or net banking) except cash.

Thus, besides protection against costs related to medical emergencies, health insurance helps people to save their taxes. If you have not yet got your health insurance done, then it's not too late to get it done. Get your health insurance done today and enjoy its benefits!