Every health policy is a promise with edges. The brochure describes the promise. Three sections of the contract describe the edges, and they are the only part worth reading twice.
Annual limit versus inner limits
The annual limit is the most the policy pays in a year. Inner limits cap individual items: room per night, doctor visits, surgery by category, ICU per day, a specific condition per year. A policy with a one billion rupiah annual limit and a tight surgery cap may pay less for your operation than a smaller policy without one.
Exclusions
Common ones: cosmetic treatment, fertility, self-inflicted injury, dangerous sports, experimental treatment, and conditions arising from something you did not declare. Maternity, dental, optical and mental health are frequently optional add-ons rather than standard cover.
Pre-existing conditions
Anything diagnosed, treated or reasonably known before the policy started is usually excluded, sometimes permanently, sometimes for a set number of years. Declaring a condition can lead to an exclusion or a loading. Not declaring it can void the claim entirely, which is far worse.
Waiting periods
A general waiting period of around thirty days is typical, with longer ones for specified illnesses, often twelve months, and longest for maternity, often ten to twelve months. Cover bought in the same month a symptom appears is rarely cover at all.
What to do with this
Ask for the policy wording, not the brochure, and read those three sections before you pay the first premium. If a question cannot be answered in writing, that is the answer.