In the present scenario, when a medical emergency can come knocking at your door any time, any day, irrespective of your age, gender or medical history, more people are relying on health insurance policies to ensure financial security in the face of a crisis. Some even purchase more than one policy to cover the gaps in the service offered by their insurer and end up paying a high price. If you too, are juggling thoughts of investing in more than one policy or getting a new policy, then this article is for you. Today, we will look at the difference between porting an existing policy and buying a new one, along with more essential details regarding mediclaim policy porting.
Table of Contents
Health insurance portability vs. buying: Key differences
Time duration
When you purchase new health insurance, you get instant medical coverage. However, when it comes to the mediclaim policyporting, you can only do so when your policy is up for renewal. You must apply with the insurer of your choice for at least 45 days before the renewal of your current policy.
Medical history
If you have a pre-existing disease or illness, buying a health insurance policy will help you cover it after completing the waiting period set by the insurer. However, this is not the case with porting. The insurer can reject your portability request if you are battling a pre-existing illness.
Waiting period
When you purchase a new mediclaim policy, the waiting period, the duration after which you’ll be covered for certain diseases, starts from scratch. On the other hand, when you port your health insurance, the new insurer considers the already completed waiting period with your previous insurer. So if the insurer you’re porting to has a waiting period of 2 years for pre-existing diseases and if you already completed one year with the previous insurer, then just 1 year waiting period will apply to you.
Willingness
Porting of health insurancedepends upon the insurer whether they accept your request or not. You will find it difficult to port your health policy if the underwriting conditions are exhaustive or if no insurer accepts your porting request. However, when you buy a new mediclaim policy, all you need to do is enter your basic details on the insurer website and you get an instant health cover. If you are over the age of 56 years, you will be required to take a medical assessment test to acquire the medical cover.
Type of plan
You can port your health insurance policy only if the new health insurancepolicy is of the same nature. However, you cannot convert your health plan into a life insurance plan with the new insurer.
What rights does the IRDA grant to the insured?
When you apply for health insurance portability with a new insurer, the IRDA safeguards your interests by granting the insured certain rights:
- You can port your health insurance policy to and from any registered medical insurance provider.
- You are allowed to port both an individual and family floater mediclaim policies.
- The new health insurance provider must acknowledge any credit that you have gained in the waiting period.
- The new insurer must insure you for at least the sum insured offered under your former policy as per the IRDA guidelines.
- The no claim bonus in health insurance and other continuity benefits remain intact.
When should you opt for health insurance portability?
Here are some of the most prevalent reasons why people seek out new insurers:
- The current health insurance policy has a hidden clause that you were not aware of when you bought it.
- The terms and conditions for room rent, co-pay, and other things are pretty stringent.
- You feel your current sum insured is insufficient and you can acquire better coverage for the same price from another insurer.
To conclude
The validity of health insurance porting and purchasing a new policy has sparked numerous debates. It is evident from the preceding considerations that porting of policy is always preferable to purchasing. However, you must examine factors such as whether the new insurer’s premium is lower than your current policy whether the new insurer offers some additional benefits along with a quick claim settlement process. Before deciding on the mediclaim policy porting, you must also review the list of network hospitals.
