Long Term vs Short Term health Insurance: Which one should you buy?

If you have a long-term health insurance policy like a critical illness plan or a family floater plan it has its purpose to serve. But to meet the coronavirus pandemic insurers have also launched short-term COVID-19 health plans in addition to other short-term plans.

So, before you buy health insurance online, it is helpful to understand the difference between the two. Here is a comparison between long-term and short-term health plans in India to help you buy a suitable health plan for yourself:  

Long Term vs. Short Term Health Insurance:

A long-term medical insurance plan keeps you insured for 2-3 years. And a short-term health insurance plan requires you to renew the policy frequently because it is valid only for a short duration. Here is a table mentioning the differences between these two options:

Who Should Buy a Short-term Health insurance policy?

Short-term health insurance policies are ideal to meet the insurance needs for a temporary phase. Like in case of job change, COVID-19 pandemic, etc. Short-term medical plans help in filling the temporary gap in the medical coverage during the transition phase.

• The duration in these plans can be 3 months to 1-year
• They are a perfect option while porting out your health insurance plan, to fill the time and stay insured during the portability period as well
• The benefit of insuring yourself with a short-term health plan is that you no longer need to worry about any unforeseen medical emergency during that period
• For students who come here to study for a shorter duration, and NRI’s or Non-Resident Indian, short-term health plans make sense

But if we talk about Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak short-term COVID health plans with a policy term of 3.5 months, 6.5 months, and 9.5 months, everyone should get them to beat the pandemic with the right healthcare.

These plans were earlier not renewable when they were launched in 2020. But now renewal date has been extended till September 2021 citing the need and demand of the short-term COVID health plans.

Also, you have to pay lower premiums and that’s one of the reasons why people opt for short-term health insurance plans. Not only this, you are provided tax benefits on the policy premiums u/s 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Who Should Buy a Long-term Health insurance policy?

Long-term health insurance policies are for everyone. There are several benefits of buying long-term health insurance plan. Firstly, you can opt for longer policy tenure from 1-year to 3- years.

You don’t have to worry about renewing your policy frequently. Though, if you have purchased a short-term plan, you need to renew the plan regularly, else you will miss out on the 'No-claim-bonus’ that is accrued for not filing a claim during the policy term.

The only factor is that the premium rates of long-term health plans are on a higher side in comparison to short-term health insurance plans that are more affordable.

The cost is higher because the benefits offered are also extensive and for a longer duration. Long-term individual health plans, critical illness insurance plans, women’s health insurance plans, maternity insurance, etc.

And if we look at the coverage benefits offered, you can avail more coverage benefits in long-term medical insurance plans in comparison to the short-term plans.

After understanding the pros and cons of both types of health plans, we got to know that they have their unique set of benefits to offer. Be it long-term or short-term health plans, we all have understood the importance of health insurance in India. If you are planning to buy a medical policy for yourself and your family you can write to us at care@policybazaar.com or call us at 1800-208-8787