HOW TO LOWER HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUM

Paying a health insurance premium is difficult for people belonging to the middle class or limited income category. However, they do not wish to miss out on their health benefits through insurance as even the medical industry has become really expensive and any incident can make such people financially burdened and hence, they do not want to give up on their insurance. But how can they balance it out a little?

How can you pay for your health insurance premium with the affordability of cover not being a cause for concern for you?

Lowering Your Health Insurance Premium

Let’s look at certain ways you can curb your health insurance premium and still reap its benefits.

Buy at an Early Age

It is considered ideal to purchase health insurance at an early age. Insurers always look into factors like age, medical history and health before you are deemed fit and eligible to avail a certain cover. Hence, in an old age availing a cover shall become much more difficult.

With age common diseases like diabetes, heart-related conditions, blood pressure and other issues add up to your medical history which causes insurers to increase the premium payments for your health insurance policy. Therefore, to avail a policy with the same benefits, but at a much lower premium it is best to purchase a health insurance policy when you are young and hale. Your health insurance premium will be much lower compared to what you will have to pay when you are older.

Choose a Less Sum Insured Policy

By choosing a less sum insured policy you can avail its benefits at low premium payments. When you purchase your health insurance plan you can receive a lower sum insured and then increase the amount as the time passes. Thus, you can make your policy more affordable.

Check for Top-Up or Super Top-Up Plans

Top-up or Super Top-Up plans help to split your insurance cover into two parts which allows you to raise a higher claim that can exceed the pre-decided limit. That way you can avail a higher coverage without paying a higher premium amount for it.

Use No-Claims Bonus

Insurers offer a no-claims bonus to policyholders who do not file a claim in the entire year. It is a type of benefit to discourage excessive filing of claims by the policyholder. The no-claims bonus benefit can help you get additional coverage without an increase in your health insurance premium. While purchasing a health insurance policy, check for no-claims benefits, always.

Look out for the Right Zone

Based on each city’s medical expenses, India is sorted into different zones - A, B, or C. So, the higher the medical expenses in a city, the higher its zone and higher the premium amount you shall pay against any health insurance policy. Make sure to know the right zone you live in before availing cover under health insurance policy and not end up paying higher premiums unnecessarily.

Long-Term Healthcare Insurance Policies Check

For long-term insurance policies the premium payments are generally lower than those of the traditional plans with the annual term. Thus, availing a long-term health insurance plan with longer tenure can help you to lower your premium payment.

Consider Family Floater Plans

When you opt for family floater plans, the premium automatically gets reduced and your whole family gets protected under the same policy. Compare different plans before choosing the right plan for your family and with right coverage the premium payments can be lowered.

Compare Different Plans Online

When you purchase policies online, you can compare different plans and look for offers and discounts on your health insurance policy. These offers can help reduce your premium paid towards your insurance policy and avail maximum benefits at the same time.

Look for Co-Pay and Deductibles Elements

Health insurance policies allow you to voluntarily choose deductibles and copay clauses while purchasing your plan. You can utilise these elements to lower the premium amount paid towards your health insurance policy.

Utilising these cost-sharing options, if you do not select the right amount then you can end up paying more towards your treatment cost than you save on your premium amount payments. So, take their calculation into consideration while purchasing a health insurance policy.

Maintain a Balance

At times, you end up having too many plans under your name, like your employer may provide a group insurance policy, you may have a family floater policy and an additional individual health policy to strengthen the protection towards your finances. However, all these policies can make it difficult for you to manage your premium payments to be paid. To balance your premium payments and finances make sure you avail individual insurance plans to the extent needed as you can avail benefits already from other insurance covers available to you. This way, you can smartly manage the premium payments and balance your insurance policies more effectively.

Policy for Parents

When it comes to purchasing a health insurance policy for your parents, make sure you do the same before they turn sixty or enter the senior citizen category as the premium payments go higher with age for most health insurance plans.

Maintain Good Health

The best way to reduce premium payments and make most of your health insurance policy is maintain good health and stay fit. That way you do not end up paying high premium payments and get a good cover for a long time.

So, with these tips you can definitely save on your premium payments under your health insurance policy however remember - do not compromise on cover or medical benefits in the wake of saving up premium payments.

FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions

Let's take a look at some frequent queries on How to Lower Health Insurance Premium;

Q1. Does a lower premium payment inevitably mean that the insurance policy will not be adequate?

No, that is not the case. The price of a health insurance policy varies from one insurer to another and thus the insurance cover offered by anyone can be more affordable compared to the other. 

Q2. Does porting a health insurance plan reduce the policy premium payment?

No, by porting insurance plans it is not necessary the policy premium payable shall get reduced. However, if your new chosen insurance plan has a lower policy premium and offers the same coverage, you may be able to reap the benefit of paying a lesser premium amount.

Q3. Do buying different coverages under health insurance help to save costs?

No, that is not necessary. While buying health insurance, always choose an adequate health insurance plan and add-ons based on your requirements only. A smartly chosen plan may lower your premium payment depending on your coverage and requirement.