Health Insurance Portability: Switch Insurers Hassle-Free
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Most people are familiar with the word ‘portability’ with respect to switching from one telecommunication service provider to another. However, very few know that a health insurance policy also offers the advantages of portability. There could be numerous reasons one would want to change the insurance company and waiting till the expiry date of the policy may seem like the ultimate option. But with health insurance portability, the policyholder can port their policy to a different insurer while keeping the benefits intact. Let’s see how this can be done.
What Is Health Insurance Portability?
Health insurance portability, is an option through which a policyholder can change the current insurance company and avail better services or possibly better health insurance policy from another insurance company.
A portable health insurance policy offers the flexibility of not remaining bound to the insurer from whom you initially bought the policy. You may be looking for better coverage, prices, or services. And if you find another health insurance company that offers you these things then you can make a switch through portability.
How To Apply For Health Insurance Portability Policy?
If you think that health insurance portability is an excellent choice for yourself and now you are wondering how to port my health insurance policy, then here are the details of how to complete the process:
Stage 1
First of all, you may have to fill the IRDA portability form to initiate the process. Note that a policyholder can initiate a portability request when the policy is due for renewal. You will have to approach the insurance company where you wish to port your existing health insurance policy. The new insurer will send you a couple of documents that include a portability form and a proposal form. They may also send details about various health insurance products that the company offers.
Stage 2
Once you fill all the necessary forms and submit it to your new insurance company, they will get in touch with your previous insurer for obtaining your medical records and other related information. They might also ask for your claim history. Your old insurance company is bound to share this information via IRDA i.e. the insurance regulator when they receive such requests.
Stage 3
When the new insurance company receives all the required details, they will decide whether or not they wish to provide you a health insurance policy. This is called underwriting of a policy. An underwriter will analyse the data related to you and consider your risk profile to decide about providing health insurance to you. Your new insurance company is supposed to underwrite your policy within 15 days if they decide to insure you. In case of a delay in this time period, it is considered that you are insured under the new insurance company.
Documents Required For Porting A Health Insurance Policy
The process of porting a health insurance policy can differ slightly based on the terms and conditions of the insurance company. You need to get in touch with your current and previous insurer to understand the exact set of documents required for the purpose of porting the policy. You may be asked to submit the following documents to initiate the process.
Identity Proof
Address Proof
IRDA portability form
Proposal Form
Insurance Policy
Claim History if applicable
Declaration of no claims, if applicable
Documents related to medical history
What Can You Port Over To Your New Health Plan?
The following are some of the things you can transfer while porting your health insurance.
Present insured members
Accumulated cumulative bonus
Current sum insured
Waiting period for specific diseases
Waiting period for pre-existing diseases
Waiting period for maternity benefits (if chosen)
Can I Transfer My Health Insurance To Another Insurance Company?
Yes, it is possible to port your existing health insurance policy to a new insurance company. You need to follow the process given in this section for the purpose of porting the policy.
Health Insurance Portability Act and Rules
Porting a health insurance policy from your old insurance company to a new one can be done only under certain rules and regulations. However, there is no health insurance portability act as such that governs the switch. Instead, there are rules laid by the IRDA that are supposed to be followed by the policyholder as well as the insurance company. Here is the list:
Type of Policy
The policyholder can port his/her insurance policy to only a similar type of policy. One cannot drastically change the coverage or type of policy while making the switch.
Insurance Company
An insurance company can be classified into a life insurance company or general insurance company. It is important that while switching from one insurer to another, the policyholder chooses a similar type of insurance company.
Gaps
A health insurance policy that you are looking to port should not have any gaps in renewals. A lapsed policy cannot be ported and no insurer will accept your proposal if you have gaps in policy renewals.
Informing the Insurance Company
A policyholder is supposed to notify the current insurance company about the switch in writing. This should be done at least 45 days before the renewal date of the existing health insurance plan.
Response From The Current Insurance Company
Your current insurer has three days to acknowledge your request for portability.
Porting Fees
As per the rules laid down by the IRDA regarding health insurance portability, no insurer – existing or new is supposed to charge a fee for porting a health insurance policy.
Changes In Premium
The premium of a health insurance plan is fixed by the insurance company based on numerous factors. It is possible that you may have to pay an additional premium while making the switch from your old insurance company. This is because the new insurer may charge a different amount of premium for the same kind of policy.
Grace period
The policyholder is allowed to avail additional grace period when the application of porting the policy is under process. An additional 30 days are allowed during which the policyholder would have to pay the premium on a pro-rata basis. This means the premium charged will be calculated based on the number of days that the old policy is active.
Sum Insured And Extent Of Coverage
The policyholder can choose to increase the sum insured and the extent of coverage of the new policy. But this depends on the insurance company and their approval.
Waiting Period
Serving an additional waiting period depends upon the extent of coverage. If the policyholder wants to increase the coverage and this is approved by the insurance company, then the waiting period needs to be served by the policyholder as per the terms and conditions of the new insurance company.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Health Insurance Portability
Switching to a new health insurance company has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. We will discuss both in this section. You can read through them and then decide whether you want to make a switch to a new insurer or renew the existing health insurance policy at your current insurance company.
Benefits Of Porting Health Insurance Policy
Benefits of porting to a new health insurance company are as follows.
Customise The Policy
You have an option to customise the policy to an extent. This way you can make changes in the policy to suit your existing needs from a medical insurance policy.
No Claim Bonus
In case you have an accumulated No Claim Bonus on your existing policy, your new insurer will calculate this discount and incorporate it with the amount of premium you are supposed to pay. Thus, you can continue to avail the benefit of No Claim Bonus by leading a healthy lifestyle.
Health Insurance Benefits
Apart from the accumulated No Claim Bonus, all the other benefits of your policy remain intact even after you make a switch. Porting allows you to keep the existing benefits and avail new ones with a new insurer.
Premium
The current health insurance market in India is brimming with competition. Insurers want policyholders to join them and buy a health insurance policy. Thus, porting the existing policy may lower your premium while the benefits may increase
Disadvantages Of Porting Health Insurance Policy
Disadvantages of porting to a new health insurance company are as follows.
Porting On Renewal
As mentioned earlier, porting a health insurance policy is only possible near the date of renewal. A policyholder may not be allowed to port the policy when the renewal date is far away.
Changes In Plans
Changing the existing health insurance policy drastically is not allowed. You can make certain changes in the extent of coverage, however, changing the whole plan is not possible.
Extra Coverage
The policyholder needs to pay a higher amount of premium for buying any kind of additional coverage at the new insurance company.
Mediclaim Policy Portability
Mediclaim policy is nothing but a health insurance policy that offers financial aid in times of a medical emergency. Thus, mediclaim portability refers to changing your current mediclaim insurance company to a new one if you are not happy with the provided services or coverage.
What To Do If They Reject Portability Requests?
There could be a few reasons why one's health insurance portability gets rejected. Let's take a look at these reasons and understand what a policyholder can do in such cases.
Providing incomplete information: This can lead to rejection because the new insurance company is not provided with true and complete information about the policyholder. Getting in touch with the insurance company to provide all the required details might be done to get an approval.
Not submitting the documents in time: As mentioned earlier, there is a timeframe in which the policyholder needs to get in touch with the new insurance company and apply for a switch. If there is a delay, the request for porting the policy may get rejected. The policyholder must now wait for the next renewal date and make sure that necessary timelines are followed.
Claim history: There are high chances that your request for porting the policy may get rejected if the claim history is not proper. The company has a right to reject the request in case of frauds or misrepresentation of information.
Reasons People Port Their Health Insurance
Here are some common why people might choose to port their health insurance.
Moving to a new locality: If you're relocating, you may need to switch health insurance plans. Porting your existing policy can make the transition easier, especially if you're moving to a new state or country.
Better coverage: If you're not happy with your current health insurance plan, porting to a new one with better coverage can give you peace of mind. This is especially important if you have a pre-existing condition or anticipate needing more medical care in the future.
Cost savings: Health insurance premiums can be expensive, so porting to a new plan that offers lower premiums or better value can be a smart move for your wallet. Just make sure you're not sacrificing coverage or benefits in the process.
Job change: If you're changing jobs, your new employer may offer a different health insurance plan than your current one. In this case, porting your health insurance can help you maintain continuity of coverage and avoid any lapses in insurance.
Family needs: If your family is growing or changing, you may need to port your health insurance to a plan that better meets your needs. For example, if you're having a baby, you may need a plan that covers prenatal care and childbirth.
Provider network: If you have a preferred doctor or hospital that's not in your current health insurance plan's network, porting to a plan that includes your preferred provider can be important for continuity of care.
Porting from Group Health Insurance to Individual Cover
Porting from group health insurance to individual cover refers to the process of switching from a health insurance policy that is provided by an employer or group to an individual health insurance policy. This change can occur due to various reasons such as leaving a job or retiring, and requires careful consideration of the benefits and drawbacks of both types of coverage.
Things To Remember While Porting For Health Insurance
A medical emergency can affect a person in both financial and emotional ways. It can easily deplete your savings if you do not have proper health insurance coverage. Buying a policy without considering your needs, lifestyle, and coverage can have a huge impact on the claim amount. Thus, it is important to consider the following things while porting your health insurance policy from one insurer to another.
Limits and Sub-limits
Each type of coverage of a health insurance policy has a certain cap on the claimable amount. For example, the daily room rent could be capped to Rs. 2500. You need to check such limits when you port health insurance policy and make sure that you are okay with the limits and sub-limits of the new policy.
Benefits
Each health insurance policy is designed to provide certain features that are helpful for the policyholder. You need to understand that these features or benefits are limited to the policy and cannot be ported. For example, if your old policy offers pre-hospitalisation coverage for 30 days and the new insurance company offers this coverage for 15 days, you cannot change this feature. You have to make do with the new coverage.
Premium
The new insurance company may offer a lower premium for a similar insurance policy. However, you need to make sure that the coverage offered for a lower premium is sufficient for your needs. Lower premiums for a lower coverage will increase your out of pocket expenses at the time of a medical emergency. ‘Out of pocket expenditure’ refers to the money you pay directly to the hospital or a medical facility without the involvement of the insurance company.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are some answers to the most asked questions related to the health insurance Portablitiy.
From the article, I understood that making a switch between two insurance companies is possible. However, is it possible to switch between plans in the same insurance company?
Yes, it is possible to switch to a new health insurance policy offered by the existing insurance company. This process will not take as much time as switching to a new insurance company, because your current insurer already has all the details required to make a switch.
I have already served half of the waiting period. Will it reset upon porting the policy to a new health insurance company?
Probably not. If the applicable waiting period for a specific condition is similar to that of the old policy, then you may only have to serve the remaining waiting period under the new plan. However, this solely depends upon the terms and conditions of the new health insurance company.
Why should I port my health insurance policy?
You should port your health insurance policy if you are not happy with the services provided, coverage, or premium with respect to the current insurance company and your health insurance policy.
What is the appropriate time to transfer a health insurance policy?
A person who holds a policy should request to transfer it at least 45 days prior to the date of renewal.
Is there an additional premium required for transferring my health insurance policy?
No, there is no need to pay any extra fees for transferring your health insurance policy as portability does not entail any charges. You only need to pay the premium for the new health policy.
What is the maximum number of times one can transfer their health insurance policy?
You have the option to transfer your health insurance policy multiple times, as long as the new insurance provider agrees to accept your transfer request. However, it's only possible to transfer the policy during the renewal of the existing policy.
Does the age of a policyholder matter while porting health insurance?
Yes, the age of a policyholder is a vital factor while porting the policy. The older the person the more will be the health insurance premium. An insurance company may also reject a proposal based on the risk factor associated with the age of a policyholder.
Is it a good idea to buy health insurance coverage from two different insurance companies?
Buying health insurance from two different insurers depends upon the coverage being purchased. There is no point in buying similar coverage from multiple insurers. Instead, consider buying different coverages to create a comprehensive health insurance portfolio. This can provide all-round coverage in the time of a medical emergency.
Disclaimer: *Except for exclusions like maternity benefits, undisclosed diseases, etc. Please check policy wordings for more details. The content on this page is generic and shared only for informational and explanatory purposes. It is based on industry experience and several secondary sources on the internet; and is subject to changes. Please go through the applicable policy wordings for updated ACKO-centric content and before making any insurance-related decisions.
