10 Changes In Health Insurance You Need To Know About It is important to buy health insurance to ensure that you and your family are protected from illnesses and the rising cost to treat them. A good health insurance policy can cover a long list of expenses like consultation fees, medical tests, hospitalization costs, etc. However, much like the changing medical costs, the tool to cover them is also changing. And, to get your self better protection, you must be aware of all these changes. Hence, here are all the changes in health insurance policies that you need to know about:
1. Premium installments Policyholders can now pay the insurance premiums in installments. The installment options include monthly, quarterly or half-yearly payments. However, the free-look period offered for monthly or quarterly premiums will be lesser than that offered when paying a lump sum annual premium.
2. Higher transparency on pre-existing illnesses Another change made in favor of policyholders is related to coverage of preexisting illnesses. Insurance companies have to now specify the pre-existing diseases that would not be covered up to a specified period of time. Moreover, this period cannot be of more than 4 years. Further, you can now declare pre-existing diseases up to three months after you buy health insurance without impacting the coverage.
3. Higher age limit The norm that older individuals cannot buy health insurance is no more applicable. Insurance providers can now offer healthcare coverage for a higher age limit. The maximum entry age for most health insurance policies used to be 65 years. However, that is not so anymore.
4. Lower age limit Along with raising the upper age limit, insurance providers can also decrease the minimum age for buying health insurance. This means you can get an insurance policy early and get higher benefits. 5. More critical illnesses covered Insurance providers now have to include several additional critical illnesses from categories like mental problems, genetic diseases, neurodevelopment disorders, and psychological disorders in their health insurance policies. This means it is much more rewarding to buy health insurance now. 6. Premium change rate Health insurance companies are now allowed to increase or decrease premiums by up to 15%. This is based on modifications as per loss-ratio numbers of the previous three financial years. This means that it is well within your insurance provider’s rights to charge you a 15% higher or lower premium at the time of renewal. 7. Preparing for change in premium rates As per IRDAI regulations, insurance providers can only charge higher premium rates after three years of the launch of any modified or approved insurance product. 8. Choose your own TPA TPA or third-party administrator is an organization that processes insurance claims. Health insurance companies have to provide a list of TPAs to policyholders at the time of purchase. This means that buyers will have the option to choose a TPA as per their suitability. However, you can change a TPA only at the time of renewal.
9. Freedom to modify Insurance providers can now make minor modifications to certain insurance products. For example, an insurance company can introduce additional distribution channels for some insurance policies. This means that insurance companies do not have to wait for approval from the IRDAI for minor changes. 10. Pay-out benefits As per the IRDAI, Insurance providers can provide a lump sum or installmentbased payment options for fixed benefit insurances. These fixed benefit insurances include critical illness plans, personal accident plans, etc. This way you can receive the money as you prefer.
With so many changes made to health insurance, both the policyholder and the provider have certain freedoms and advantages. These can be used to make healthcare more accessible. Hence, you should assess all these changes based on your requirements and buy health insurance that suits you.