Importance of renewing your Health Insurance plan annually

Health insurance is an essential investment for a comfortable future, more so in today’s time than ever before. The widespread pandemic and rising medical costs, along with an increase in lifestyle diseases, have established long-term importance of health insurance. A good health insurance scheme with sufficient medical cover gives protection from unexpected and enormous financial strains of bearing hospital bills. It also offers additional perks such as wellness benefits, bonuses in the form of increased cover and customized add-on covers for specific illnesses.
Health Insurance in India is mostly an annual policy, meaning the premium is payable each year and the policy has to be renewed every year to keep it active. You can also get long term policies of up to three years.

Why is it important to renew a health insurance plan?

1. Out of pocket expenses: Should you choose not to renew your health policy it would result in the policy getting lapsed. As a result, medical cover would not be available to you thereafter. If there are any health-related exigencies or urgent hospitalisation requirements after lapse of policy , you will have to bear the expenses on your own. This could cause a sizeable dent in your savings, which would be much, much larger than the premium amount payable to keep your health policy active.
2. Renewal Bonus: Many insurers reward policyholders for renewing their health insurance policies in the form of benefits at no extra cost, as long as there are no claims. For example, some plans offer an increase in Sum Insured by a certain percentage, if you renew your health insurance plan in the following year/s. Other plans give add-on benefits such as free health check-ups on renewal of policy. Considering these extra advantages, over and above the core benefits of keeping your health policy active year-on-year, it is wise to renew the plan annually.
3. Premium discount: A few insurance companies offer discounts on yearly premium payable towards renewal of health insurance. Some others give discounts on premium if you opt for a 2- or 3-year term, instead of a 1-year term. Given that you would benefit most by renewing your health insurance and maintaining it lifelong, it is more economical to go for a multi-year premium and save on the discount.
4. First time Waiting Periods: All health plans have an initial waiting period of at least 30 days. This means that any basic medical cover offered by the plan can be claimed only after 30 days from the start date of the policy. Naturally, if the policy lapses, this waiting period clock will start ticking all over again!
5. PED / Specific disease cover waiting periods: Besides the initial waiting period, there are waiting periods defined for PED (pre-existing diseases) and other specified conditions (usually for about three to four years).  These periods have to be completed prior to claims for related medical expenditure. If you fail to renew your health policy, this waiting period will start all over again!
6. Affordability: If you take your health insurance policy early on in life you stand to gain by virtue of youth – the premium payable will be relatively lower than in the later years of life. If you don’t renew your health policy every year and let it lapse for long, by the time you reapply for health insurance you might have to pay a higher premium as a result of increase in age. Not to mention the probability of having to undergo medical tests if you are a lot older!

SANA.Insure helps individuals, families and corporates get best suited health insurance schemes with optimum medical cover and attractive extra benefits which can be conveniently renewed year-on-year. A Health Insurance Buddy at SANA.Insure will guide you with all information on policy features, benefits and conditions to make your choice a lot easier and smarter. Log on to sana.insure for quick, unbiased, simple and easy access to comparative information on numerous health policies available in India tailored to your needs.
Wish you a healthy and happy life!