All You Need to Know About Loading in Health Insurance

Health insurances during these times are essential, and that is majorly due to the rising healthcare costs along with the increase in occurrences of diseases. The number of people with health coverage has increased substantially in the last two years. There has been a positive outcome of the covid-19 pandemic, people have started to spend more on their health cover. Earlier the health cover between Rs. 20 lakhs - Rs. 1 crore used to be 5% of the entire market, in the past 9 months, this percentage share has risen to about 50%.

People have no doubt started to spend more on their health insurance policies, but there are many concepts which people still don’t have much knowledge about, and one such term is ‘loading’. Loading is a concept which is introduced when the company feels that they are providing health cover to a risky individual. 

Also read here: What is Loading in Health Insurance?

What is Loading in Health Insurance?

Loading amount is the extra amount added to premium to provide health cover to this risky policyholder. The risk of a particular policyholder is determined by medical history, dangerous working conditions, or hazardous hobbies.

You may also like to read: Loading In Health Insurance Policies Explained

Factors Which Determine Loading in Health Insurance

Loading is supposed to cover these risks for the company when they are providing health cover to these individuals. The policyholder has to pay a higher premium, and the loading amount depends upon the following factors:

1. Age: Age is the prominent factor because it is a common belief that older people are more vulnerable to diseases, and thus, they are much more of a risk to the insurance companies. As the policyholders gain age, the premium amount increases for the same health cover amount because the loading amount increases. 

2. Medical Condition: It is expected that the people of the same age would have the same premium because their age would pose the same mortality risk. But the premium amount differs because of the difference in medical conditions of the two candidates. The small factors like a person being overweight can be a significant factor in increasing the loading amount. Any factor which increases vulnerability to diseases would increase the loading amount.

3. Medical History: If a policyholder has a medical history of recurrent diseases, then the loading amount is bound to be high. Any lifestyle disease in history would lead to a substantial increase in the loading amount as that increases the risk factor manyfold. 

4. Smoking Habits: Smoking or consumption of tobacco in any form will increase the loading amount drastically because the potential policyholder is at an increased risk of not only cancer but also many respiratory tract diseases. 

5. Family History: If the policyholder has a family history of diseases, then they also have a substantial risk of contracting those diseases. This is particularly true for diseases like cancer and lifestyle diseases. Loading amount is governed by this factor as well. 

6. Occupation: If the policyholder is in any occupation which has bigger chances of getting him/her injured or fall ill due to overexposure to anything, then it is also bound to increase the loading amount. 

Conclusion

Health insurance is no doubt important, and thus it is also essential to know about the small intricate aspects governing the insurance premium. Just like a company covers itself of the risks that a person may pose due to factors by introducing loading, the policyholder can control the aspects of loading that s/he can change to reduce this loading amount.      

Also read here: Top 5 Affordable Health Insurance Policies You Can Buy Online in India

Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.