How Health Insurance Portability Works In India
October 2011 saw the arrival of a new type of portability, other than the portability of your phone and bank account number. This was health insurance portability. Introduced by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), this feature allows you to port your existing health insurance policy to another policy from the same or another insurer, without losing your acquired credits and benefits.
How to apply for a port-in
To port you need to apply for the port-in at least 45 days before the date of renewal of your policy. Doing so ensures that your port-in application is considered.
All you have to do is choose your new insurer and fill out a portability and proposal form, and submit both to your new health insurance company.
The new company will then gather your details, such as medical data and claim history. These details will be shared through the IRDAI data sharing portal.
You will receive the results of your application within 15 working days. What’s more, this entire process can be done online.
Advantages of Health Insurance Portability
There are many advantages to health insurance portability. You can shift from an unsatisfactory policy to a new one with better features like lifetime renewal, free value-added services including check-ups and e-consultations, tax benefits, on-time claims, etc., all at a lower premium.
You can even transfer the accumulated credit on your existing policy like your general waiting period, waiting periods for coverage of pre-existing conditions, any time-bound exclusions, bonuses, etc., into the new policy.
This means that you won’t have the waiting period for your new policy, and will be covered for everything immediately.
Moreover, you can also switch from a group/family floater policy to an individual policy from the same insurer.
Disadvantages of Health Insurance Portability
Port-in requests are usually considered as new applications and undergo the entire underwriting process. What’s more, the health insurance company is free to reject them if they are found unsatisfactory.
Rejection is a possibility because the underwriting terms and conditions for different health insurance companies are different.
Having a break in your policy coverage may also lead to rejection. This means that you have to port your policy before it expires.
Moreover, there is also the 45-day rule that must be followed. If your application is later than 45 days, the new company may not even consider it.
Additionally, if you’re switching from a group/ family floater policy you can only shift to an individual policy from the same insurer, and not other insurers.
When to opt for Health Insurance Portability
You can choose to port your health insurance plan if you find your current insurer unsatisfactory, or you find a better deal for a policy.
Quite often new policies come up that may better suit your requirements, and may even have a lower premiums.
Bajaj Finserv, for example, sells the best health insurance plans from major insurers at quite affordable rates.
Simply be sure to read the policy document carefully and fully understand the coverage and terms before you commit.
Also Read- Best Health Insurance Plans and Policies in India
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Category: Insurance
