The importance of health insurance in our lives is beyond explanation. The policy ensures that you and your loved ones are financially protected in case of medical contingencies. Despite the urgency, many people in India avoid buying the policy. The reason behind this is that for most people health insurance is still a complex insurance product to understand and an expensive one.
However, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has been making efforts to make health insurance a more customer-centric product. From October 2020, the health insurance premiums are likely to increase as the policy standardised.
The IRDAI, in their attempt to eliminate ambiguities, has issued new guidelines to standardise the health insurance exclusions across the country. So, any health condition diagnosed by the applicant 48 months before the issuance of the health insurance will be classified as pre-existing diseases. Moreover, any health condition acquired within three months of buying the policy will also be classified as a pre-existing health condition.
Furthermore, health insurance plans are liable to cover modern treatments such as oral chemotherapy, balloon sinuplasty, deep brain stimulation, and more. This enhances the scope of health insurance coverage. The treatment expenses incurred for mental illness, stress, and neurodegenerative disorders are also included under the health policy. However, since the coverage offered by health insurance will significantly increase, so will its premium rate.
The standardisation of health insurance is bound to benefit the audience more. The new clauses will be incorporated in the policies issued from October 01, 2020, and for plans that are due for renewal from April 01, 2021. The question that may arise in your mind after reading about the new IRDAI guidelines on health insurance is – how will the standardisation of health insurance benefit you?
Well, as we know, there are multiple health insurance plans available in the Indian market. Selecting the right policy can be an overwhelming and time-consuming process. The applicant has to do intensive research and go through several policy terms and conditions.
Standardising health insurance makes the research and understanding of the product easier for the buyer. So, by paying additional premiums, you get a health insurance plan that has extended coverage, is less complicated to understand, and has attractive features for the audience.
The process of buying health insurance remains the same. Here, take a look at a standard method of buying health insurance online.
- Visit the insurer’s website online and go to the ‘Health Insurance’ section.
- Select the type of coverage you want and add-on benefits.
- Fill in personal details and health condition-related information.
- Review your policy and personal details once again.
- Proceed to pay your health insurance premiums online.
- After assessing your application, the insurer will issue the policy in no time.
Besides this, the factors that affect the premiums also remain the same. Some of the common factors that can impact health insurance premiums are the coverage of the policy you select, your age, health conditions, BMI, etc. If you want to calculate your healthy weight category, use the BMI calculator. The tool helps determine the BMI value based on your height and weight.
Overall, even if the new guidelines by IRDAI increase the health insurance premiums, it makes the policy simple to understand and more inclusive. So, don’t hesitate and buy health insurance for you and your family as soon as possible.
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