What Are Long-Term Health Insurance Plans? How Are They Beneficial?

A long-term health insurance plan functions to unload the financial stress from the policyholders. It’s formed to help lessen the expense of hospitalisation, home assistance or a facility of assisted living. Apart from financially struggling people, these long-term policies are also a boon for those who have no one else to look after them by covering the home assistance under it. This could eliminate the stress which dwells in every person as to who will look after them when they are ill and alone?

With rising inflation, the cost of medical expenses has constantly increased for years and expected to increase more in future. In light of such conditions, health care services may turn into a much costlier affair. Therefore, the medical coverage plan is considered the best available choice to combat the chances of a monetary crisis due to a medical emergency. However, several insurance agencies put a few regulations and conditions, which should be considered while buying a health insurance scheme. 

Long-Term Health Insurance: In Simple Terms

The tenure of long-term health insurance policies generally goes around 2-3 years. In this way, one can save and have it as a substitute for health policies, which is valid for 1 year, and enhance the insurance cover for 2-3 years. It works almost like an alternative for a one-year health plan with a difference that it doesn’t end in one year and continues for 2-3 or more years. 

Why should one opt for a Long-term Health Insurance Plan? 

The most significant benefit of the long-term health insurance plan is that the individuals insured do not need to get their policies renewed every year or so. In addition to this advantage, these policies are available at lesser rates too than that of one-year medical coverage policies. When people lock themselves for a long time such as 3 years or so, they make themselves insusceptible to rate updates of the premiums that may occur amid the period. Insurance agencies are relied upon to work out and offer limits for NCB (no-claim bonus) to long-term health insurance policyholders. As the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) fixes the slab for NCB, there arises the possibility to pay the benefits as claim-related concessions. For instance, the insurance providing agency may offer a reward to a policyholder for every claim-free year. 

What are the reasons that make the long-term plan essential? 

Lately, more awareness is observed among the Indians when it comes to the need for health insurance plans. The growing health care expenses and constant marketing of health insurance by the insurance agencies are able to persuade an ever-increasing number of individuals to consider health care coverage as a component of their investment speculations. The modifications in the tax rebates on health policies are also quite responsible for promoting health policies. 

However, with the increasing number of insurers, the insurance companies need to manage a bigger bunch of paperwork. This, with the expanding medical expenses, is compelling the health coverage providing organisations to increase the premiums of long-term medical coverage plans. While organisations can’t do anything pertaining to the expanding medical costs, they can just limit their expenses by decreasing the paperwork to keep offering more and more benefits to the customers. 

How are pre-existing illnesses dealt with under long-term health plans?

The long-term medical coverage policies are probably going to insure the pre-existing illnesses with a specific waiting period according to the conventional strategies. Although, the clause for the waiting period varies from insurer to insurer. For instance, assume that if somebody’s scheme owns a waiting period of 3-year, and he or she have officially finished 2 years. So, now if they choose to opt for a long-term plan amid the third year, they are allowed to make claims for hospitalisation costs against prior illnesses, from the starting of the fourth year. 

Can senior citizens also avail the long-term health insurance policies?

Albeit, older people are more prone to illness, health insurance organizations consider them to be at high risk and consequently, rarely allow them to be covered under long-term policies. The confirmations to this aspect more or less rely upon the approvals of IRDAI. 

Also Read

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Conclusion
Nobody wants a health insurance plan for a specific period of time, but for a lifetime. Thus, stretching a health policy to a bigger time zone not only saves the time to renew policies every year but also money, by getting the plan at a discounted rate. Thus, it’s better to go for the long-term plan and gain the peace of mind for lifelong.