Making Health Insurance Premiums Affordable – The Cheat Sheet You Didn’t Know You Needed

Is paying insurance premium giving you sleepless nights? Do you worry that the high premiums will eat into your financial plans and mess up your budget. If yes, then maybe it is time for you to learn how to lower your health insurance premiums. Yes, it is entirely possible for you to reduce your premium payout and still enjoy excellent health insurance coverage. You can employ several useful tricks and tips and significantly reduce your premium amount and make health insurance more affordable and accessible for yourself. Before we deep dive into how you can get affordable health insurance plans, lets understand the concept first.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance  is a facility under which insurers provide a financial safety net for your medical costs. Under a health insurance plan, your insurer covers the various costs associated with medical treatments – from pre and post hospitalisation costs, to the expenses associated with being admitted in a hospital, renting out a room there, the physicians fees, and so on. You can claim health insurance coverage up to a pre-determined amount known as a sum insured, which is the maximum amount of coverage you can claim.

What is a Health Insurance Premium?

A health insurance premium is the charge levied by the insurer, against which they offer financial coverage under a health insurance policy. This is a fee you have to pay on an annual basis to continue enjoying uninterrupted medical insurance coverage. The premium you have to pay typically depends on factors like your age, medical history, etc., may or may not increase based on your chosen policy.

Compared to the coverage offered under even the most affordable and reasonable health insurance plans, the sum insured amount is usually, significantly high. For instance, you may have opted for a low cost insurance plan by paying a premium ranging in a few thousand rupees. In return, your insurance provider may offer coverage worth lakhs, sometimes crores of rupees.  

Ways to Lower Premiums and Get the Most Affordable Health Insurance Plans

Following are some of the ways in which you can get low premium health insurance plans:

• Purchase the Health Insurance Policy at an Early Age

One of the most effective ways to get cheap health care insurance premiums is to start early. Insurance companies generally charge lower premiums if you purchase policies in your 20s. As you age, the risk associated with health issues increase, making policies more expensive. By securing a health insurance plan early in life, you not only save on premiums but also gain long-term financial security.

• Compare Insurance Policies

Before buying insurance, it is essential to compare policies from different providers. Different companies offer various coverage options, with varying premium costs. You must therefore take the time to research and compare policies, considering factors like coverage, network hospitals, and customer reviews. This way, you can find the best affordable insurance plans at reasonable rates.

• Go for a Policy with a Lower Sum Insured

While policies with significant sums insured offer extensive coverage, the premium charges levied against them also tend to be significantly high. So, an option to make healthcare affordable, is to choose a policy with a lower sum insured. You can especially consider this option if you belong to a family with no severe cases of medical history.

• Opt for Deductibles

Deductible is the amount you must pay before your insurance cover kicks in and choosing a higher deductible translates to lower premiums. Deductibles may be voluntary or compulsory. You can also adjust the deductible limit in case it is voluntary. Going for a higher deductible makes sense if you are less prone to falling ill or have no family history of medical complications.

• Balance Your Health Insurance Plans

Some policies offer coverage for a variety of medical services, including services that you may not need. So, you must check your health insurance plan and remove the covers you don’t need. By customizing your policy to your needs, you can reduce your premium without losing out on essential coverage benefits, thus making healthcare affordable.

• Port Your Insurance Policy

If you feel the premiums charged by your insurer are too high and if you can find more affordable health insurance plans  with similar coverage being offered by another insurer, you can port your policy. If you choose to port, citing costs as your reason, your insurer may offer to match the premium charged by the other insurance provider. Plus, whether or not you port the policy, your benefits remain intact.  

• Choose Top-Up and Super Top-up Plans:

Top-up and super top-up plans enable you to improve your existing health insurance coverage at extremely affordable rates. You can encash these plans only after exhausting your base health insurance policy with a lower sum insured. As such, these plans enable you to get significant coverage at an extremely low cost, thereby protecting you in case of long-term, expensive treatment courses.

• Use the Benefit of Co-Payment:

Co-payment is a health insurance clause under where you agree to pay a fixed percentage of the medical expenses, while your insurer pays the rest. Like deductibles, this clause may be optional. Choosing policies with a co-payment clause can reduce your premium significantly. A simple tactic is to opt for policies with the co-payment clause when you are younger and less likely to file claims. You can always modify your policy later as you age and remove the co-payment clause later.

• Consider Buying Long-Term Health Insurance Plans:

Insurance providers also allow you to purchase long-term health insurance plans, with continuous coverage of 2-3 years at a time. Such policies makes healthcare affordable since insurers typically offer discounts on premiums. Thus, even if the premium looks significant at face value, the cost of your health care plan, across the total insurance term would typically be low with the added benefit of not having to renew your policy every year.

• Choose a Family Floater Plan:

A family floater policy is a type of insurance plan which covers 4-6 members of a family under a single plan with a single sum insured. It is one of the most cost-effective option for families. In such policies, the covered members must share the sum insured amount. You can also buy a top-up or super-top up health insurance plan with your family floater policy to access affordable family medical insurance.

Factors That Contribute To An Increase In Health Insurance Premium

Insurers take various factors into account while determining your health insurance premium costs. The most noteworthy factors influencing your payable premium rates include the following:

• Age: As is the primary factor that influences premium rates. As you grow older, insurers may increase your premiums rates too.
• Pre-existing conditions: If you have any existing health conditions like asthma, diabetes, etc., your insurer may levy higher premiums rates.
• Lifestyle choices: Your lifestyle choices such as smoking and regular alcohol consumption may influence the premium charges.
• Coverage amount: Premium costs are directly proportional to the coverage offered. Higher the coverage, higher the premium costs.
• Family history: If you have a family history of certain illnesses, especially those deemed critical like cancer, or heart ailments, you may have to pay higher premiums.
• Location: Your city of residence impacts your medical expenses upon hospitalisation. So, your location also impacts the premiums charged by insurers.
• Policy type: Your chosen policy determines the premium costs. While you can get affordable health insurance plans with regular policies, premiums of critical illness plans may be higher.

Looking for the Best, Affordable Insurance Plans? Choose Manipal Cigna Health Insurance

Health insurance is an investment worthy of its name. It provides a financial cushion during medical emergencies. As such, you must not cut corners and ensure you invest in a good healthcare policy. If you need affordable health insurance plans  for yourself and your family, you can consider Manipal Cigna Health Insurance. At Manipal Cigna, we strive to make healthcare affordable for everyone and take immense pride in offering an array of budget-friendly healthcare plans, designed to cover your varying needs. Just visit our website, where you can find a host of policies for every budget.

Safeguard your health and finances. Invest in a Manipal Cigna Health Insurance plan today.