Lately, the rising cost of premium medical care and the rising number of diseases and viruses have made people more aware of the importance of having a reliable health insurance policy. While many people are now savvy about comparing policies before purchasing them, some nuances remain that are often overlooked. One such critical aspect is the renewal of your health insurance policy.
The last thing you want is for your premiums to go to waste, which is exactly what happens if you don't renew on time. Failing to renew your policy before the grace period ends can result in its cancellation, leaving you extremely vulnerable to medical emergencies without the financial safety net of your health insurance plan.
This brings us to an essential question – How should you go about renewing your policy, and what are the key considerations to keep in mind?
Four Lesser Known Facts of Health Insurance Renewal
More often than not, renewing your health insurance policy can be a straightforward process. But here are a few things you need to know before you renew your health insurance policy –
- Benefits of Timely Health Insurance Renewal
a. Restoration: Many policies offer a restoration benefit, replenishing the sum assured if it is exhausted within a policy year. However, some policies offer a unique restoration benefit, carrying forward the previous year’s unused amount to the next year. You can lose this benefit if you fail to renew your policy on time.
b. Waiting Periods: Renewing your policy without a break ensures you continue counting the waiting periods for pre-existing diseases and specific illnesses. Non-renewal can reset these waiting periods.
c. No Claim Bonus: Insurance companies often come with a No-Claim Bonus if you do not make any claims during the policy year. This bonus can increase your sum insured without increasing your premium. Any gap in premium payment can leave you vulnerable to high medical expenses and potentially reset waiting periods. Timely renewal ensures there is no break in your coverage.
2. Things to Remember When Renewing Your Health Insurance Plan
a. Riders or Add-ons: This is an excellent opportunity to review your policy and make necessary changes, such as adding riders (critical illness coverage, personal accident cover, or maternity benefits) or increasing the sum insured to better meet your current health needs.
b. Policy Changes: Revisit your policy document to ensure coverage meets your current and future needs. Also, check for any changes in terms and conditions that might affect your coverage or benefits.
c. Network Hospitals: Ensure your insurer's network includes hospitals that are easily accessible to you and that they haven’t been blacklisted, providing cashless treatment options.
3. How to Renew a Health Insurance Policy?
STEP 1: Go to your health insurance provider's official website.
STEP 2: Navigate to the Renewal Tab.
STEP 3: Provide your current policy number and other required details.
STEP 4: Select the duration for renewal, whether it is single-year or multi-year.
STEP 5: Add any riders or make changes to the coverage if needed.
STEP 6: Complete the payment process using available online payment options.
4. What if You Miss Your Health Insurance Renewal Date?
Most insurers offer a grace period of 15 to 30 days after renewal. During this period, you can renew your policy without losing any benefits. If you fail to renew within the grace period, your policy will lapse, leading to a break in coverage. This means you will not be able to make a claim during an unfortunate hospitalisation.
You can try contacting your insurer and enquiring if they can help reinstate your lapsed policy, but more often than not, you may have to reapply for a new health insurance policy. This will involve a fresh underwriting process, including medical examinations and potentially higher premiums, had you developed a chronic medical condition during this period.
How to Choose the Best Health Insurance Policy?
When renewing or purchasing a health insurance policy, here are some features that you need to consider:
- No mandatory copayment,
- No room rent restrictions,
- No disease-wise sub-limits,
- Domiciliary coverage,
- Daycare treatment coverage,
- AYUSH treatment coverage,
- An optimum pre-and post-hospitalisation coverage,
- A low waiting period,
- An optimum restoration perks,
- Free annual health checkups,
- A convenient claim settlement process, and
- An affordable premium.
What are the Best Health Insurance Policies in 2024?
Keeping the above-mentioned features in mind, here are some of the top health insurance policies to consider in 2024:
- HDFC ERGO Optima Secure: HDFC ERGO Optima Secure is a comprehensive policy with no room rent restrictions, no disease-wise sub-limits, and no copayment. It provides extensive pre- and post-hospitalisation coverage, daycare, domiciliary treatments, and a lucrative no-claim bonus.
Drawbacks: One of the very few drawbacks of this policy is that it is very expensive. So, if you’re on a budget, you should probably consider other plans.
2. Aditya Birla Activ One: Activ One offers extensive coverage of up to Rs. 6 crore, along with no copayment, no room rent restriction, and high no-claim bonuses. It covers pre-hospitalisation expenses for 90 days and post-hospitalisation expenses for 180 days, along with annual health check-ups, coverage for AYUSH treatments, and much more. This policy also includes a unique feature where policyholders can earn a percentage of their premium back for staying healthy.
Drawbacks: The insurer has yet to meet industry standards with its overall operational efficiency benchmark. However, considering the improving numbers of the compliant volume (as you can see in our comprehensive insurer review), we are hopeful that they will achieve it in the foreseeable future.
3. Care Supreme: Care Supreme offers high-sum insured options and benefits like no disease-wise sub-limits, no room rent capping, and coverage for alternative treatments under AYUSH. It includes annual health check-ups and a Super NCB that increases the sum insured by 100% each year up to 500%.
Drawbacks: Super NCB is an add-on that needs to be purchased separately, which will increase the premium by a small percentage. Once again, with Care, we feel that the operational metrics could be slightly better.
4. Niva Bupa ReAssure 2.0: Niva Bupa ReAssure 2.0 stands out for its extensive coverage and unique features, such as no room rent restrictions, disease-wise sub-limits, or copayment. It includes a restoration benefit that activates upon complete exhaustion of the base cover and provides a unique no-claim bonus structure.
Drawbacks: Niva Bupa could impose up to 40% of the premium as loading charges if you have any pre-existing diseases. Besides, considering the management change, we feel it might be prudent to wait and observe how they perform before making a decision.
5. Bajaj Allianz Health Guard Gold: Health Guard Gold offers a high sum insured, a decent no-claim bonus, and a restoration benefit, making it a versatile choice for multi-year coverage. The policy also includes maternity benefits (with a waiting period), making it a comprehensive choice for families and newly married couples.
Drawbacks: However, the main drawbacks of this policy are that it has a slightly low no-claim bonus of 10% per annum, up to 100%, and restoration of the base sum insured is only after complete exhaustion.
Conclusion
When choosing a health insurance policy, we always recommend using free tools to compare the features, benefits and prices of the different plans available in the market. However, one critical aspect often overlooked is timely renewal. If you miss your renewal date, your policy can lapse, leading to gaps in coverage and potential financial strain. While it is possible to reinstate a lapsed policy, it is often a complicated process. The best way to avoid this is to set a reminder a month before the renewal date or consider opting for a multi-year policy to prevent this from becoming an annual hassle.