Lifetime Renewability and its Importance in Health Insurance Policy

Over the past few years, the health insurance sector in India has evolved significantly. To fulfil multifarious requirements of customers, insurers have introduced many new features to both individuals as well as group health insurance plans. Although the awareness about health and wellness has grown and people are trying to incorporate a healthy lifestyle, still medical emergencies can’t be avoided altogether. And unfortunately the cost of medical treatment is soaring every year. Thus, everyone should opt for the right health insurance policy so that they can stay protected against various diseases and also, the surging costs of healthcare.

Health insurers have now come up with a new policy feature called lifetime health insurance to avoid hassle and high premium costs. Here, we are going to unravel what is lifetime renewability in health insurance and how it contributes in the field of health insurance in a big way.

What is Lifetime Health Insurance?

According to the rules of IRDA, every Indian health insurer should offer a competitive health insurance plan to all policyholders, irrespective of their age. The minimum entry age can go up to 65 years. But, unfortunately, most private health insurance providers are not equipped with such an age limit. The state-owned general insurance companies set the maximum age limit up to 65 years so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of health insurance. According to IRDA rules and regulations, it is compulsory for all health insurers to offer lifetime health insurance policy plans (lifetime renewability). With lifetime health insurance India, a policyholder can initiate a claim at the time of hospitalization and also avail of the facilities of health insurance even for the lapsed policies (fail to renew policies on time).

After the approval for an insurance policy, a policyholder can renew the policy for a lifetime to avoid the hassles of yearly renewal. This feature can also be valid even if a customer raised a claim in the previous year. For lifetime health insurance plans, an insurer can’t reject the renewal of the policy. If the insurance company denies the renewal of health insurance, the company needs to give a valid reason in writing to the policyholder.

Lifetime Renewability Health Insurance: Importance

The introduction of lifetime health insurance or the lifetime renewability feature brings a smile to all senior citizens of India. Lifetime renewability health insurance is particularly beneficial for senior citizen healthcare policyholders.  Due to their age and delicate health conditions, senior citizens need to pay higher premium amounts. Since they are susceptible to various diseases, hence the risk is also high. They may not get adequate coverage from health insurance policies.

But with a lifetime health insurance policy India, the insured policyholder can lead a stress-free life as the policy will be renewed lifelong without any age limitation. This lifetime medical insurance lessens the burden of financial pressure on these senior people in case of emergency hospitalization. The costs of healthcare expenses are increasing like anything. To combat all healthcare requirements and medical costs, the lifetime renewability feature has become a necessity these days.

Lifetime Renewability Health Insurance: Features to Make your Decision Worthy

• Sub-limit in health insurance policy plans: Sub-limit clause in health insurance plays an imperative role that you should take into consideration before making any decision. In case of hospitalization, the total expenditures include the hospital room rent, physician’s consultation fees, operation charges, medication costs, consumables, etc. Sub-limits are pre-defined costs that are mentioned under your policy plans. Most health insurers offer 1% of the sum insured as room rent reimbursement. So, if your room rent charges exceed the threshold limit, the policyholder needs to pay the remaining amount from his/her side. Though many health insurers don’t offer sub-limits while issuing various health insurance plans, there are some health insurance providers that welcome their customers with a sub-limit option to minimize the premium amount.

•  No healthcare check-up below 45 years: Many health insurance companies assess the health condition of the applicant through various medical check-ups and declarations mentioned in the application form. Applicants who are below 45 years, don’t need to go for any healthcare check-ups unless they don’t have any critical issues. But a policy purchaser should disclose his health condition including past or family health issues before purchasing a policy. In case of any discrepancy, the insurance company has every right to reject the claim request of the buyer. To make the claim settlement process facile, a buyer can go for voluntary medical tests and submit the test reports to the insurance company.

Also Read: Long-Term Health Insurance and its Benefits

Lifetime Renewability in Health Insurance: Expectations

Now, IRDA has made this compulsory for all health insurers to offer guaranteed lifetime renewability features to their health insurance plans. We may expect the below-mentioned things from this pro-customer move.

• The health insurance policies will welcome their policyholders to renew their health insurance plans for a lifetime.
• No limitations in terms of age
• Policyholders don’t need to submit a fresh healthcare declaration at the time of each policy renewal
• The policy renewal process has become much easier. The policyholders can renew their plans irrespective of their past claims.
• Even at the age of 65, a new buyer can purchase health insurance

With the introduction of new features like lifetime renewability, people are getting more inclined towards various health insurance policies. But don’t make any purchase without comparing various health insurance plans. Check the policy wordings (inclusions and exclusions) thoroughly. Don’t give priority to the premium amount, rather consider all features before purchasing a health insurance policy. Contemplate all your healthcare requirements and then only purchase the most suitable health plan for your future.

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