Porting Health Insurance Policies-All You Need to Know
Updated On Nov 26, 2020
The idea of health insurance portability is sure to get happiness in the eyes of someone whose genuine claim has been rejected in the past. Every time you are disappointed with your insurer, you think of ending it and buying a new one.
But the thought of going through the entire process of buying a new policy again, you give up.
To your surprise, there is a better solution where you can port your policy from the existing one to a new one without any hassle.
Yes, you got that right! The insurance regulator IRDA has brought a new regulation that allows a policyholder to switch between two policies in case you are unhappy with the existing one.
Also read: 10 Things to Check While Porting a Health Insurance Policy
What is exactly health insurance portability?
IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) is a regulatory body of health insurance companies in India. According to the guideline provided by IRDAI, health insurance portability can be defined as - “The transfer by an individual health insurance policyholder (including family cover) of the credit gained from pre-existing conditions and time-bound exclusions if he/she chooses to, to switch from one insurer to another.”
You must have heard about mobile number portability. Health insurance portability is a similar concept. It allows a policyholder to transfer the credits gained from pre-existing conditions and other waiting period benefits to a new insurance service provider.
Note that portability in health insurance does not cover the transfer of insurance cover the benefit of previous or add-ons.
Benefits of porting health insurance policies
If you buy a new policy, even if you had completed a waiting period already, for say 30 days, with the existing insurance policy provider, you still have to complete it with a new insurer. But when you port the same policy to another one, you get the advantage of no waiting period to gain health insurance benefits. To use health insurance in the best way, scan through all the health insurance plans available in the market.
Health Insurance Portability-The Process
A policyholder can opt for portability when his/her current policy is due for renewal.
- When you apply to port your insurance, you will receive a proposal form, a portability form, and details on various products offered by it.
- Once you fill and submit the same, the insurance company will obtain your medical records and claim history from the existing insurer.
- You will get 7 working days to furnish the details through a common data-sharing portal designed by IRDA.
- After the insurer acquires these details, it decides on underwriting the policy within 15 days.
- If the company fails to do so, it will then be bound to accept the application.
While porting a policy, the insured individuals have to consider a few things to protect their safety in the process.
If the existing policy excluded the pre-existing condition from the coverage for say, two years, but the waiting period is about three years in total, then the policyholder is supposed to complete the remaining waiting period of a year with the new insurer.
Also, there are some fraud and uncertainty in the process of portability. Insurer not revealing all the coverage leads to this unprofessional conduct.
A thing to understand here is that while the policyholders hold the rights for portability, the insurers also hold the right to reject such requests. But it happens only if the requests are deemed unfavorable. The policyholders, in this case, will have to continue with the existing policy only.
Even after considering the things mentioned in the article, if you have any doubt about the idea of health insurance portability, don’t worry. We at Insurancedekho.com have experts who will help solve your doubts within a few minutes. They will consider factors like good services, less premium, and major benefits for you to help get the best deal. You can even write to us at customersupport@insurancedekho.com.
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