Keeping in mind the rising medical costs and a spurt of lifestyle diseases amongst Indians, having a health insurance plan is of utmost importance. It covers the expenses that arise at the time of medical emergencies without touching your savings.
But, wait. Does choosing the best health insurance plan ensure the best coverage? Umm, no. People look at a lot of options when it comes to buying an effective health plan, but ignore the importance of reviewing it annually.
Read along to understand why reviewing your health insurance annually is necessary:
New Features & Benefits
As treatment cost rises, health insurance companies adapt to it and bring out new features & benefits under their products to deal with it. Reviewing your policy annually will grant you an option to take a look at the new features, compare it with your existing coverage, and make the changes accordingly.
No Claim Bonus
For every claim-free year, the health insurance company offers No Claim Bonus (NCB). If you do not make any claims in a few years, then NCB gets accumulated. Reviewing your policy annually will ensure that you keep a track of such benefit.
Lifestyle Changes
Life is uncertain, and so is your health. How you live your life shapes your health. Growing age, lack of exercise, work-load, and smoking habits can make it easy for health issues to choose you as their next victim. Therefore, it is important to review your health insurance policy annually and customize it as per your requirements.
New Phase of Life
Getting married or becoming parents is one of the greatest joys of life. But with new joys, comes new responsibilities. For example, when you got a health insurance policy, you were single and within a year, you got married and now have a spouse to take care of. In such a scenario, you need to enhance your cover, which can be done at the time of reviewing your requirements annually.
Rise In The Healthcare Costs
In the past decade, healthcare costs have witnessed an exponential increase. Treatment of critical illness (like cancer) can cost fortunes and turn your savings into ash. Therefore, it is important to review your health plan every year and check whether the existing one can look after the rising medical expenses.
Pre-Existing Diseases
Every health insurance company has a different clause when it comes to the waiting period of pre-existing diseases, which may change with every passing year. By reviewing health insurance policy yearly, one may find a health insurance plan that offers a lower waiting period on pre-existing diseases.
Income Changes
An increase in income can sync with the increase in health coverage. For example, a 25-year old (version of you) earning 40K/month can pay a higher premium and get better health coverage as compared to a 24-year old (version of you) earning 32K/month. By reviewing your policy every year, you can evaluate the amount you want to spend on health coverage, and decide accordingly.
Health Conditions
We grow older and wiser with each passing year. And when that happens, we come face to face with numerous health challenges. For example, a 40-year old (version of you) may not be as fit and healthy as compared to a 39-year old (version of you). Therefore, by reviewing your policy every year, you can customize your health plan as per your prevailing health conditions.
Reviewing your health insurance policy annually not only helps you to save premium but also provides wider coverage and ensures that you overcome the effect of inflation and rising healthcare costs like a champ.
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