What to Check Before Porting a Health Insurance Policy?

When Should You Consider Porting a Health Insurance Plan?

It can be difficult to decide whether you want to continue with your existing health insurance policy or move to a seemingly better one.

The following points can help you decide if you should opt for health insurance portability:

1. Poor Services

   If your insurance provider fails to live up to the promises they once made, and you are not satisfied with their current services/claims experience, you must opt to port your health insurance policy.

2. Insufficient Coverage

   Consider porting your policy if your current insurer does not provide sufficient coverage for the specific health ailments that concerns you the most.

3. Competitors are Offering Better Solutions

   If you come across a policy that offers better coverage amount, policy premium, co-payment clauses, or a higher cap on room rent, it can be a good decision to switch your health insurance company.

4. Policy Terms are not Transparent

   At times, policy documents carry hidden clauses, which are not obvious until you make a claim. This can cause significant mental stress during a medical emergency. If you feel your insurer's terms and conditions are not transparent, you can choose to switch insurers.

Once you assess the need to port, you must pay attention on how to port a health insurance policy and the factors to consider before porting so that there are no setbacks or surprises in the process.

6 Things to Keep in Mind Before Porting a Health Insurance Policy

Here are the top 6 things you must check before porting your mediclaim policy:

1. Impact of Your Medical History: Usually, health insurance companies ask applicants above the age of 45 years to undergo a pre-policy medical check-up. If medical reports show health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and thyroid, the new insurer can reject the port request or levy additional premiums.
2. Understand Waiting Periods: There are three types of waiting periods in health insurance. When porting a medical insurance policy, the completed waiting periods of the current policy will be waived under the new policy. It means you will have to serve only the additional duration of the waiting periods under the new insurer, if any.
3. Increase in the Sum Insured: If you increase the sum insured for your new policy, you are required to serve a fresh waiting period or the differential amount. Also, a higher sum insured may attract higher premiums.
4. Premium vs Coverage: Most people port their policy to get low premiums. However, you must ensure this lower premium does not come at the cost of reduced coverage, as in the long run, it can result in you paying more for overall medical expenses.
5. Financial Stability of the New Insurer: It is important that the new insurer you choose has a robust financial background. Always check the insurer's claim settlement ratio (CSR), incurred claim ratio (ICR) and solvency ratio to assess their financial position.
6. Pay Attention to the Current Policy's Status: You cannot port a lapsed policy. Hence, it is important to ensure that your current policy stays active for continuous coverage, without any breaks.

Process of Porting a Health Insurance Policy

Knowing how to port your health insurance policy step-by-step lets you navigate the process smoothly. If you have decided to switch to a new insurer, start with searching for the plan (and the insurer) that matches your healthcare requirements.

Inform your current insurer at least 45 days before your existing health insurance policy expires. Once you select the insurer and submit the required documents, they shall reach out to your existing insurer to inquire about your medical and claims history.

After obtaining all the details, the new policy provider must decide within 15 days whether it wants to proceed with your porting application. If they fail to do so within 15 days, they are bound to accept your application.

Rules to Remember When Porting a Health Insurance Policy

Here are some important portability rules you must be aware of:

• You can port only to a policy of a similar type to your current one. For instance, if you have a top-up plan, you can port only to another top-up policy from a new insurer.
• The new insurer will evaluate your profile to assess its risk as porting is considered a new application.
• You must provide a complete, transparent medical history with no discrepancies to avoid rejection.
• Filling the portability application with wrong or incorrect information can lead to its rejection.
• Non-availability of previous health insurance policy documents can also result in application rejection.
• Your claims history and medical records are transferred to the your health insurance company from the existing policy provider.
• While IRDAI portability guidelines allow senior citizens to port health insurance, most insurers are reluctant to approve their portability applications due to the increased risk of claims pertaining to age-related health problems. However, those who accept can add loading premiums and co-payment clauses.

In a Nutshell

You must consider the health insurance portability pros and cons. It proves to be fruitful when you are under 45 years and healthy, as your application is more likely to be accepted. Individuals who are above 45 and suffer from pre-existing health problems can face stricter underwriting, resulting in additional premiums or policy conditions. In this case, you must decide to port your policy if your existing insurer denies too many claims or takes too long to settle.