Health insurance plans have become a way of life. The rising incidence of diseases and the high cost of treating them spell doom for a common man’s finances in the absence of a health insurance plan. As such, people are becoming increasingly aware of the necessity of having valid health insurance coverage. In fact, besides covering themselves, people are also including their family members under the scope of family floater health insurance plans.
Health insurance plans are, usually, one-year plans which need regular renewals. However, nowadays, many plans allow a continuous coverage for 2 or 3 years if you pay the aggregate premium at one go. Even in these long-term plans, renewals are necessary after the term expires if you want to enjoy continuous lifelong coverage. During renewals, there are some things which you should keep in mind if you want to enjoy the best insurance experience. Do you know what these things are? Let’s find out:
The Sum Insured
We always act like a miser when buying a health insurance plan. Since choosing a higher Sum Insured proves to be expensive, we go for lower coverage levels to save premium outgoes. However, having a considerable Sum Insured is necessary if you are to face the high treatment costs. So, if you have chosen a lower Sum Insured earlier, at the time of renewal you should try and enhance your Sum Insured limit. Enhancement of your Sum Insured might also be required if new members are added to the scope of coverage. So, at the time of renewal you should analyze the sufficiency of your plan’s Sum Insured level. If low, try and increase the level and if the Sum Insured is unnecessarily high (which is rarely the case) reduce it to its optimal level and save premiums.
Here’s why a higher Sum Insured is necessary
The sufficiency of coverage features
Every health insurance plan has some common coverage features and some unique coverage features. These unique features give the plan an edge over other plans. When you are renewing the cover, check if the existing coverage features are sufficient for your need or not. For instance, maternity coverage under your existing plan might no longer be needed if you already have utilized it. On the other hand, you might need maternity coverage if you are newly married and your existing health plan doesn’t have it.
The new members to be added
Addition of new members to an existing plan happens either after you get married or you have a child. In both these instances you are required to pay an additional premium for inclusion of additional members. So, when renewing, you should check if there are any new members who are to be added to your plan.
Premium amount
You should also consider the renewal premium amount which is being asked by your existing insurer. The premium should be compared with the coverage features to assess whether it is reasonable or not. You can also compare other health insurance plans to find lower premium quotes for similar coverage features.
Renewal of your health insurance plan should be done with careful consideration. You should take care to ensure that the Sum Insured level of your plan is sufficient for your requirements, all your family members are covered, the coverage features you need are present in the plan and the premium you are paying is reasonable. If you have any doubt there is always an option of portability. Do you know what portability is?
Health insurance portability
Portability of a health insurance policy means the facility of switching your existing health insurance plan to another plan while retaining the benefits of the existing plan. Porting can be done across different plans of the same company or another plan of another company. The No Claim Bonus you have earned in your existing policy and the waiting period which has elapsed is credited to the new policy to which you port.
Porting gives you the flexibility of switching between health plans if your requirements change or if you find a better deal. Porting is possible only at the time of policy renewal and so you should be careful. Check for the above-mentioned things on renewal and, if required, port to another plan which fulfills your requirements.
Here’s how porting and renewal work
Read more about Separate health insurance plans for parents of floater?
Read also An anatomy of an health insurance plan
