When the thought of health insurance crosses a young professional’s mind, it’s the worry of monthly premiums that scares them. Burdened with existing loans and EMIs, they see a health insurance plan as an investment that should be made a little later in life. They’re sometime salready insured in a group insurance by their employers. But most of them choose to stay uninsured. This thinking needs to change for two reasons. The first reason is that health is completely unpredictable. A sudden heart attack or accident can occur any time. It is important to be prepared to bearthe medical expenses in case of any medical emergency. The second reason is that premium of a health insurance keeps increasing with age. So a health insurance plan you’d take today would be much cheaper than the one you’d take 20 years from now.
According to the Indian health insurance system, age is divided into different slabs. It is according to these slabs that the premium amount increases.In the age slab of 35-55 years, every individual will pay the same premium. However, the difference between the premium amount paid by a 25 year-old and a 55 year-old is huge. The reason for this is that, as the age of a person increases, chances of health risks and hospitalisation increases.
Mentioned below are reasons as to why your premium would change with age:
- Medical care increases with age: Falling ill frequently would require constant medical attention. As the medical needs would have increased, the premium will automatically increase. If you’d buy an insurance plan later in life, the premium to be paid would be higher as compared to the premium to be paid now.
- Immunity decreases: As your body grows older, the immune system becomes weak. The natural ability of the body to fight diseases dips down and you rely more on medicines. This increases your hospital visits and the premium you pay.
- Chances of surgery: Any surgery ranging from a cardiac operation to a cataract surgery requires a huge amount of money. As you grow older,there are high chances of undergoing a surgery and the insurers take this fact into account while increasing the premium every year.
- An organ failure: The health risks are at peak during old age. Every cell in the body begins to age. Most organs degrade in their functioning and sometimes lead to an organ failure. Such situations demand an immediate organ transplant. From searching for an organ donor, to paying for the surgeries, the patient is left in a financial debt. The health insurance company takes care of this.
- Increased hospital visits: Even a small allergy can lead to a major misery, as you age. Immediate OPD (Outpatient department) visit is unavoidable in such cases. Regular visits to OPD incurs inspection charges, medication charges and body test charges. You are allowed to make OPD claims which are included in your health insurance claim. It is certain that only a higher premium plan would cover OPD charges as well.
- Waiting period: Most health insurance policies have waiting periods. If one takes a policy earlier, then by the time they reach the age where they might physically require any such treatment, these waiting clauses would have been done with and they can avail benefit of health insurance.
A high premium might burden you financially, but it keeps you covered entirely. Although, before you select a plan for yourself, it is advised to use a health insurance premium calculator. It helps you to compare amongst different plans offered by health insurance companies all over India. Moreover, it tells you the payable premium amount instantly. Having an idea of the amount, you can decide which insurance plansuits you the best. Online insurance plans have made life simpler. Once you get an idea of the health insurance premiumamount, it becomes far easier to buy an insurance online.
