Health insurance portability, as stated by the IRDA, gives the right to every policyholder to shift their health insurance policy to any other insurer of one’s choice. Fortunately, when you port health insurance, the credits and benefits gained by the policyholder also get ported alongside previous time-bound conditions and exclusions.
However, you must wait for the current policy’s renewal date before requesting portability 45 days before renewal.
Let’s bite bigger into this information!
Advantages & Disadvantages of Porting Health Insurance
Advantages:
- You can customize your insurance portability per your health requirements, lifestyle, and needs.
- You can now easily shift to a family-floater plan from an individual plan.
- The existing amount will be combined with the NCB (No-Claim-Bonus) to arrive at the total sum insured.
- All benefits of the current plan stay for good.
- You get to enjoy lucrative discounts or benefits at low premiums.
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Disadvantages:
- You must wait for the policy renewal date, as portability can only opt for it 45 days before it.
- You may lose some benefits when shifting from family/group plans to individual plans.
- Most insurance companies have similar products/policies to offer.
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Dos and Don’ts of Health Insurance Portability
Do’s of Porting Health Insurance
Keep the following in mind if you want to port health insurance policy.
- First, check the hospitals linked under the new health insurer and shift to an insurer with many hospitals and healthcare facilities linked to it.
- Second, ensure to avail of cashless benefits and discounts as you shift.
- Third, check the new insurer’s health coverage and premium amount, and ship to an insurer offering better coverage or a decreased premium rate.
- Fourth, avoid delay. Apply for porting the policy 45 days before your current insurance policy renewal date.
- Fifth, check your medical history with the new insurer’s list of diseases covered. Often, recurring conditions like renal or heart failure, blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, etc., are rejected by insurers.
- Finally, check all the limitations of the new insurer thoroughly and stay well-informed about the game. Update on the restrictions on hospitals covered, diseases, age, etc.
Don’ts of Porting Health Insurance
- Don’t rush into taking a hasty decision and apply before doing thorough research on the limitations of the new insurer, the premium amount, and the sum insured.
- Don’t forget that only the waiting period of your current policy can be ported.
Rights of a Policyholder for Porting a Health Insurance Policy
- You can easily port a policy to or from any specialized or general insurance company.
- Any policy can be ported – be it an individual or a family policy.
- You have the right to secure the credit to the waiting period from your new insurer on previous conditions, as acquired from the old insurer.
- The new insurer should ensure an equal sum as was insured previously.
- The porting procedures should be completed on time by both insurers per IRDA’s norms.
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Health Insurance Policy Rules Set by IRDA
- The policy can be ported 45 days before the renewal date of the existing policy.
- Aside from the credit of the waiting period, the new insurer gets to decide the premium and other conditions of the policyholder.
- One must inform the old insurer 45 days before porting, specifying the name of the new insurer, and renew the old insurance policy without a break in the middle by submitting a hard copy of the same.
How to Port Health Insurance Policy Online
Technological advancements allow you to port your insurance policy online quickly and hassle-free.
Easy steps for the new insurer
IRDA developed a web-based facility that holds the data pool of all the policies that health insurance companies provide to the policyholders, including their terms and regulations.
Easy steps for a policyholder
- You can compare and contrast a range of insurance covers before making a credible choice.
- You need to enlist the documents required.
- Follow the online procedure.
- Get to the checklist and complete the process.
What Can You Port in Your Health Insurance Policy?
No Claim Bonus (NCB) and time-bound exclusions of a policyholder from the old insurance company can be ported to the new insurer. Furthermore, credit should be provided by the new insurer for the waiting period of a policyholder’s disease (provided credits have been acquired with the previous policy).
A policyholder can now easily switch one’s old health insurance policy to a new insurer or a new health insurance plan hassle-free and easy, thanks to IRDA’s improvisations on health insurance policies and portability guidelines. Now, the smart customer can choose through a wide array of health insurance plans available at IRDA’s web portals to make a well-informed choice for oneself and one’s family!
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