Health insurance 

Health insurance portability in India

We’ve all heard of mobile number portability (whether it’s perpetually delayed is another matter!). Similarly, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) is now working on an aggressive schedule for the portability of health insurance in India. At a simplistic level, health insurance portability means that the policyholder can transfer the health insurance policy when renewing from one insurance company to another, without losing any accrued benefits.

The basic idea is to allow the policyholder to continue with a minimum basic coverage that is consistent across all insurance companies. Nowadays, if you contracted an illness during the previous policy term, the new insurer treats it as if it were pre-existing and therefore people (especially seniors) find it very difficult to change insurance companies even if they are not satisfied. .

This is a boon for policyholders in India. What it does is ensure that the Indian insurance company you are currently insured with cannot afford to take you for granted (regardless of what the customer service department would have you believe, you are nothing more than a source of income for the insurance company). !). It will also make the insurance company think twice before frivolously denying any claim. The biggest advantage is that the insured is not tied to a single insurance company and has a choice when their current insurance company no longer wants to cover their risk. This will also ensure that insurance companies introduce more cost-competitive and customer-friendly schemes so that their current policyholders do not switch, leading to reduced premiums.

Currently, most health insurance contracts are one-year contracts, and if there have been no claims, bonuses are secured in the form of a higher sum insured for the same premium, or a premium reduction. However, if the insured wants to transfer it to another company, the bonuses are not transferred and the insured pays the base rate. For seniors who purchased the original policy many years earlier, it is even more difficult to change as insurance companies are reluctant to sell new policies to seniors.

Some of the biggest issues are being resolved, such as data sharing, bonus transfer, and the difference between two policies. According to senior officials, the basic product has already been developed by GIC and is now awaiting IRDA approval. Health insurance portability in India will likely be available for an insured sum of up to Rs 1 lakh or Rs 2 lakhs (we recommend 2 lakhs). Since no two health insurance policies are seldom identical, GIC works to achieve a common minimum benefit that can be carried over if you decide to change insurance companies.

Bonuses accrued on the No Claims policy will not carry over and extended coverage will be treated as a new policy. In the base coverage there will be no exclusions for reasons of reflection time or pre-existing illnesses. While health insurance portability can eliminate customization from health insurance policies, it’s a small price to pay for the freedom of knowing that the health insurance company can’t twist your arm when you’re at your weakest. Health insurance portability will also ensure that online comparison through sites like www.policytiger.com will play an even greater role in the decision process.

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