Understand Long Term Health Insurance Plans
In the era of the pandemic, health insurance has become not optional but an essential requirement. The last 2 years have certainly changed our perception about health as the words corona, mask, social distancing, vaccine and health insurance have become common vocabulary. At this juncture, safeguarding your family’s health with insurance is the right thing to do.
Picking the right plan might be confusing as there are plenty of options, and different types of them as well. For instance, you would be opting for a “floater plan” if you’d want cover for the entire family, but an individual plan if you are the only person to be covered. Insurance also varies based on time interval – short term and long term. In this blog, we will focus on long term health insurance plans.
What is long term insurance?
As the name suggests, this insurance offers cover for a long period of time, typically one year or more.
Advantages of long-term insurance –
- Cost – If you are looking for continued medical insurance coverage over a sustained period of time, then long term insurance would be a cost-effective option. It may cost more than short term insurance for the time being, as the initial premium amount will be higher because of a bigger time interval. In the long run, the amount will definitely be lower than if you take short term insurance and keep renewing it over the same time period.
- No gap in health insurance – In case of short-term insurance cover, you might have a gap once your policy period is over if you don’t renew it. That will make you vulnerable in case any unexpected health emergencies occur when you are not insured, as in that case you will have to bear the entire cost for the same. This type of insurance helps you in not having short term gaps in insurance cover. In addition to protecting you from unexpected health crises, it also ensures your no claim bonus is intact.
- No Claim Bonus – One of the most important components of health insurance is the no claim bonus, and it is acquired when you don’t claim insurance for a specific period of time. This bonus is very helpful in negotiating future premium rates. When you have a continued insurance cover, your no claim bonus stays intact. If there is a gap in the health insurance policy, you might entirely lose the no claim bonus you accumulated.
- Coverage for pre-existing diseases – Long term plans offer coverage for pre-existing diseases. This is a major differentiating factor from short term insurance, which does not offer the same level of coverage.
- Provision to include add-ons – You will have the option to include specific requirements that are not part of your original insurance policy as well! Some examples of add-ons are maternity cover and critical illness cover.
- No hassle of Renewing plans frequently – Long term insurance provides a continuous cover and you can have the peace of mind of being protected always. The hassle of needing to frequently renew your plan is eliminated.
We definitely believe staying healthy and being insured is for the long term! We hope this blog has helped you in understanding this type of insurance better. To know more, you can visit Chola MS and choose your insurance plan as per your requirement.
