2020 has been a game changing year for the health industry sector as the people have gained more awareness all over health insurance increased by many folds. The last 12 months is an eye witness to the health insurance sector becoming the most valuable and beneficial sector in terms of the premiums that are being insured. From April to September 2020 ,around 300 million lives are being insured under the health insurance sector.
Considering the two important factors that drives most of the Indians to register themselves for a health insurance policy would be firstly the high anticipation of the hospitalisations due to COVID-19 prevalence and secondly due to the extreme pricing of the treatment costs in the private hospitals. Though there were sudden droppings in the COVID-19 positive cases , worrisome situations were put to India with more positive cases kept rising.
Amidst apprehension and uncertainty regarding the current scenario, we must evaluate the risks in accordance to the worst possible happenings. The risk assessment mainly involves creating a financial blanket sufficient to pay hospital dues if you or a member of your family becomes a victim of the virus.
For those who bought health insurance during this time last year, it is very important to renew the policy before the expiry date and those who have not yet purchased a health plan , should not delay the decision further. Like all other types of insurance policies, a health insurance policy also needs to be renewed annually to avail the benefits of a health insurance policy without any hassles. You can easily renew your health insurance policy online with just a few clicks from the insurer’s website or any online insurance marketplace.
Interruption in coverage
As long as your health insurance policy is active, the insurer continues to provide you with adequate coverage and cover hospitalization expenses that are required for treatment of any illness. However, if you fail to renew your health insurance on the renewal date, the policy becomes unused.
Under a health insurance plan, any claim filed when the policy is inoperative will not be considered by the insurer and will be rejected outright. Although every insurer provides a grace period of 30 days to revive an expired insurance policy, you cannot make a claim during the grace period or until your policy becomes active again.
If you are hospitalized while your policy is inactive, the insurer will not provide any coverage. And, if you fail to renew the policy even within the grace period, your policy will lapse and your only solution will be to buy a new health insurance cover. Also, given the significant increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases each day, you should not risk being covered under a health insurance plan as you never know when you might need coverage.
Waiting period
When you buy a new health insurance policy, it comes with a mandatory waiting period that you have to meet before filing a claim. While there is no waiting period for hospitalization due to accidents, there is a waiting period of 15 days for hospitalization due to COVID-19 and 30 days for all other ailments. For pre-existing diseases and other common conditions like maternity cover, knee replacement surgery, cataract and many more, there is a waiting period of between 2 to 4 years.
Now, if you do not renew your policy on the renewal date or even during the grace period, your health cover will lapse and you will need to buy a new health insurance policy. Under a new health insurance policy, you will be required to serve the waiting period again for different conditions and during that period if you get hospitalized for the treatment of that particular condition, your insurer will not pay the cost of recruitment. You will forfeit all benefits earned by serving the waiting period and will need to start the process all over again.
No-claim bonus
Yet another major benefit that you can lose out on is the no-claim bonus if you fail to renew your health insurance cover within the time period. It is not always important that if you have purchased health insurance coverage, you will make a claim every year and for each no-claim or claim-free year, the insurer offers you a no-claim bonus.
The bonus can be in the form of increased sum insured of your existing health insurance policy or a discount on health insurance premium at the time of renewal. You can avail the no-claim bonus only at the time of renewal, however, if you fail to renew the policy within the given time period, you cannot avail the NCB benefits.
