5 Reasons to Port your Health Insurance Plan to High Sum Insured Health Plan

Mr. Ajay Sharma, a 35-year-old working professional, purchased a three-lakh health insurance policy four years ago. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a heart condition and spent two weeks in the hospital. The whole cost of treatment was 3 lakhs, which was covered by his insurance plan. After a few weeks, his wife was involved in an accident and underwent knee surgery, which resulted in a hospitalization cost of 2.5 lakhs. Because Ajay's sum insured depleted during his heart surgery, he had to dig into his savings to pay for his wife's treatment, putting him in a financial bind.

Had Ajay ported his health insurance plan to a higher sum insured he wouldn't have had to use up his savings to pay the hospital expense. Moreover, in a world where Covid-19 cases, increasing critical illnesses and skyrocketing medical costs aren't going away, having a high sum insured comprehensive health insurance has become a must to combat these challenges.

Fortunately, since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, health insurance awareness for high sum insured plans has increased. The available trends show that 54% of people have ported their policies to high sum insured plans in tier 1 cities. This is primarily owing to the Covid pandemic that the customers have become more aware of the importance of being financially prepared in case of unforeseen medical expenses. Following are some of the reasons why one should invest in high sum insured plans for a safe and secure future of themselves and their families:

With the rising medical costs, people are slowly getting their minds around the fact that a health cover of 5-10 lakhs is not sufficient. They are now enhancing their cover and porting to high sum insured plans. This is mostly because these high sum insured plans are now available at an economical cost of 1000-1200/per month. Which means, by just paying 20 % more you get 10 times more coverage than your regular plan with additional benefits and features as well.

AFFORDABILITY WITH EMI OPTION

Due to the increasing popularity of high-sum-insured health insurance policies as a result of the ongoing pandemic, these plans are available on EMI options as well. With the flexibility to pay the premium in installments, it becomes more accessible and affordable for the customers. With the availability of this option, you can dedicate a fixed amount from your income every month towards it. That way, you do not have to shell out a hefty amount from your income into one go.

AVAILABILITY OF ZERO DAY WAITING PERIOD

Health insurance usually comes with a Waiting period of up to 4 years for pre-existing diseases. This implies that any hospitalization expenses related to the declared ailments like diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, hypertension, etc can be claimed only after 4 successful years with the insurer. Long waiting period has been one of the key deterrents for people buying a health insurance plan. However, with high sum insured health plans coming in the market it is now possible to get your insurance coverage from day one itself. Many insurers, including Aditya Birla Health Insurance, HDFC Ergo, and Star health provide coverage from day one.

AFFORDABILITY OF CRITICAL ILLNESSES

Another reason that people are porting their policies to high sum insured plans is the astronomical cost of critical illness like cancer, Kidney failure, Bypass Surgery, Heart Attack. As per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the number of cancer cases in India could increase by 1.5 million by 2025. Not only that, but the prevalence of heart disease and stroke has increased by more than 50% in the last three decades in the country.With that, the cost of hospitalization has increased by approximately 150 per cent for an urban citizen in the last decade. Making it almost impossible for a middle class person to afford them. To address these concerns there are high-sum insured health plans which cover these critical illnesses by keeping you financially protected.

With the availability of zero copayment under high sum insured plans more people are inclined towards thes. Under this feature the policyholder does not need to pay any portion of the hospitalization bills, no room rent limit which allows you to avail any room category. Making payment of even a small amount, that too at the time of hospitalization, may not be easy for many policyholders. Thus, getting a policy without any copay feature is something you should pitch for. These features are not available in most of the regular plans which is why people are more inclined towards buying high sum-insured policies.

With growing concerns of financial preparedness of the entire family requiring hospitalization for Covid, middle-class India has now started realizing the importance of higher coverage. Therefore, making the 1 crore plans popular and a necessity altogether. People often face extreme financial burden due to critical illnesses. And in such a situation porting your regular health insurance policy to a high sum-insured one will offer optimal coverage at times of emergency. Thus, working as a financial field for you and your family.