What are the Benefits of Buying a Health Insurance Plan at an Early Age

Benefits of Buying a Health Insurance Plan at an Early Age

Buying a health insurance plan early on in life is a smart choice as you receive numerous benefits. Read on to know about the advantages of early buying of health insurance in this blog.

Though health insurance has become a viable option for most people to ensure security of their own health as well as of their family members at home.  However, in India many people are still of the view that they need health insurance only when they cross middle age. Thus, most such people seek a health plan after turning 30 and above. But the fact is buying insurance, whether health or life, when you are young and healthy is better. This is because when you are young and away from diseases, your insurer levies a low premium on your health insurance policy. Moreover, since the lifestyle of most of us has become sedentary with the constant fear of chronic diseases catching us anytime, so having insurance to secure health is pertinent these days.

In this blog, we will discuss the various benefits of buying a health insurance policy at an early age.

Why should you buy Health Insurance when you are young?

Health insurance has always been important but the outbreak of covid-19 has made people realize its significance all the more. Since health insurance is so important and you need to buy a policy in your middle age, then why not buy it early on in life and gain several benefits. Yes, you are right! You can receive numerous health insurance benefits by availing insurance at a young age.

8 Advantages of Buying a Health Insurance Policy at an Younger Age

Below are some good reasons why you should purchase a health insurance plan when you are young:

1. Low Premium – Of course, this is a vital reason to invest on health insurance early on in life. By investing on a health plan when you are in your 20s, you can easily get a very nominal premium on a comprehensive policy. This is because age is the most important factor that is considered while calculating insurance premium.  So, if you seek health insurance in your late 30s, you will pay more premium as compared to when you buy insurance in your 20s. Thus, the older you grow, the higher the premium charges you pay.  That is because with age people become prone to ailments and health risks.
2. Pre-policy health check-up not needed – Another benefit of buying a health insurance policy at a young age is that you can avoid the pre-policy health check-up that is a requirement for most policies for people above 40 years of age. So, if you buy health insurance early on in life during your 20s and 30s, your insurer might issue the policy to you without any mandatory health check-up.  The reason for the same is that people above the age of 40 are prone to diseases. So, if any particular ailment is discovered during the pre-policy health check-up, the insurer might levy higher premium depending on the medical condition of the insured. This situation can be avoided by buying medical insurance at an early age at a low premium.
3. Easy to deal with waiting Period of Insurance – Another wonderful advantage of buying health insurance at a young age is that you can overcome the waiting period smoothly. By health insurance waiting period it means that the insured person cannot make a claim for any disease or illness under his/her insurance, except for accidental cases. Thus, even if you fall sick and have to undergo any surgery or any critical illness treatment, you cannot raise a claim within the waiting period.  Only when the waiting period comes to an end, the policyholder can start making claims for health insurance. Depending on the insurance policy, the waiting period may vary between one month to four years. So, by buying health cover at a young age, you can make sure to overcome the waiting period without much chances of becoming sick as you are likely to be young and healthy during your early years.
4. Certain health policies have limitations of age –  This is another factor to consider as most health insurance plans are available with age limits for elderly to buy health plans. Most of the insurance companies specify 60-65 years as the upper limit of age for buying health plans. However, this depends on the insurer and the insurance policy. These days there are policies available with an upper limit of beyond 60-65years. However, since the premium amount depends on the age of the policyholder, so as you age you need to pay higher premiums.  Most health plans for senior citizens are available at higher premiums. Thus, it is better to buy health insurance when you are young so that you can avoid such situations.
5. Coverage for pre-existing diseases might not be there – If you buy insurance at an early age, you are not likely to have any condition of pre-existing diseases. However, if you buy health insurance very late in life after 40 or 50 years of age or as a senior citizen, you are likely to be caught in already-existing diseases. This, in turn, will increase your premium amount while reducing the coverage that you might receive by buying a policy at young age.   Further, there are insurers who do not offer cover against pre-existing illnesses as a term of their policy if you buy insurance late in life.
6. NCB or No Claim Bonus  – Among the various benefits of health insurance in India at a young age is that the insured can accumulate NCBs and lower their premium value further. You already know that insurance companies offer NCB benefits to policyholders for not making a claim during the previous policy year. Now if you buy your health plan early on, you would not be required to make claims as you stay healthy during young age. So, you can reduce the premium of your policy further by 5 to 50%.
7. Rejection Rate is less  – At young age people are not likely to get critical diseases, which are common for elderly individuals. So, it is also less likely that you would raise a claim for any critical illness. This way, the issue of claim rejection is also low with individuals who buy health insurance early on in life.
8. Extensive choices in terms of policies –  By buying health insurance at an early age, when you don’t have any chances of pre-existing ailments, you can become eligible to have health plans with extensive coverage. Just ensure to compare the policies on different criteria and benefits before finally purchasing the plan.

Also Read: Benefits of Buying Health Insurance before turning 30 .

To Conclude

As already discussed, you now know what are the benefits of health insurance and how you can benefit further by buying a health plan at an early age. So, rather than waiting to become sick and buy insurance, it is better to get the best health insurance when you are in your 20s to avoid any inconvenience.