Benefits of Health Insurance Portability

Pradeep Gupta did a lot of research and only after carefully analyzing various health plans did he purchase a health policy for himself. However, after a scary medical emergency during the term of the policy, he realized how massively he was off the mark in calculating his health needs. On top of this, he was depressed by the fact that now he is stuck with the insurance company. Health Insurance Portability.

And may have to be with them forever and might have to continue to incur losses even as his medical needs remain unfulfilled. This was when he came across the concept of health insurance portability, and suddenly he witnessed a ray of hope. Everyone deserves a second chance!

We are sure you too want to know what he learned about portability and its benefits?

What is Portability?

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced w.e.f 1st October 2011. This concept is where you get the option of shifting your health insurance policy from your existing insurer to a new insurer without complications and without losing any of the benefits that you currently enjoy with your current insurer.

How to do it?

If you’re not satisfied with the services provided by the insurer or you feel the sum assured is not enough to cater to your current and future needs, you can apply for portability with a different insurer that meets your requirements. You have to submit a written request to the new insurer about portability at least 45 days before the term of your current plan expires. If the new insurer accepts your proposal and all other terms and conditions are met, they will make a decision within 15 days.

Benefits of Portability

There is a host of advantages you can enjoy by shifting insurers. The major ones are:

1. You can expect more competitive premiums that might lead to lower premiums for at least the same sum assured as your current health policy.
2. To woo you as a customer, the new insurer will try to offer you better services than the previous one. This results in you getting a more efficient and professional service network, making it easier for you to face any health emergencies.
3. The claim settlement process might be smoother and even better than your existing insurer. This makes a lot of difference when you are filing for claims for reimbursement. Getting your money back as part of the claims in a time-bound manner without any hassles is a dream for everyone. Portability can help you tie up with an insurer that keeps this as a priority.
4. You might also be able to avail of an upgraded health plan that wasn’t even there in the market when you initially bought your policy.
5. Portability will ensure that your existing health insurance benefits are carried forward in the new plan as well. This includes the accumulated bonus as well as the waiting period for pre-existing diseases. For example, if your current plan has a waiting period of three years for pre-existing conditions and you have completed two years out of it, the new plan will give you credit for this, and you will have a waiting period of only 1 year under the new plan.
6. The waiting period of 30 days from the commencement of policy to enjoy benefits of health plans also gets waived off when you port the policy.

After knowing these advantages, Pradeep applied for portability and was able to get a better health plan with substantial health insurance benefits compared to his previous policy. You can also do the same if you’re not happy in your existing situation. Just find out about the new plans, meet the requirements and get yourself a better deal with Health Insurance Portability.

Need to take care

In portability, you need to take care of certain things because as you port the insurance policy you come under the underwriting rules of the new insurer. Underwriting rules they can charge you a higher premium for every coverage that you want, porting the insurance policy is like a “give & take” relationship but you have to take the care that you won’t give too much and to take some filthy coverage. Maybe, this is the reason why people hesitate before porting the policy, or just because of hesitation lot of people drop their idea of porting while porting does not cost a single rupee.

Conclusion

Finding the best health insurance policy is a task for everyone and it’ll take a lot of effort, and not everyone gets the best health policy and maybe that’s why people start looking for port the insurance policy. But we should know that every coin has two sides, if portability is beneficial for you then it has also a second face. Like, with Underwriting rules of portability new insurance company will charge you higher for your additional coverage, in comparison to any other policy or your old policy. You have a need, proper research before buying a health insurance policy or be ready to face consequences.