Health insurance covers medical care and offers many other important benefits, while protecting us from unexpected and high medical costs. Most of us buy annual medical insurance that has to be renewed every year and remembering that can be a tough task for few. If you are one of them, buying a multi-year health insurance policy can help.
Let’s learn more about the multi-year plan and if you should opt for it.
What is it?
Multi-year health insurance cover keeps you covered for more than one year. You need to pay the premium in one go at the time of buying the policy.
According to Siddharth Singhal, Business Head - Health Insurance at Policybazaar.com, multi-Year health insurance policy has increased from 8 percent in April 2022 to 12 percent in Oct 2022.
What are the benefits?
Safeguard premium changes
“The policyholder who selects this plan can lock in the premium for a longer time period and avail the cost-efficiency benefit,” Singhal said.
Multi-year health insurance policy offers coverage for three years. As the premium can be paid for multiple years in one go, this cushions the insured from subsequent premium revisions.
Discounted prices
Apart from this, the policyholders can benefit by paying multi-year premiums at discounted prices.
“For instance, for a two-year policy one stands to avail up to 10 percent discount and for a three-year plan the discount gains are up to 15 percent,” Singhal said.
Hedge against rejection of claims
In situations where claims get rejected by health insurance companies, it can be a disaster for the family, paying for huge medical expenses from the pocket. Here, multiple policies have tremendous benefits. If a health insurance claim is rejected by one insurer, it can be accepted by another, and thus, the entire claim money is not lost. Thus, having multiple health insurance policies act as a hedge against claim rejections, as per Policybazaar.
How to opt?
This policy enables policyholders to pay the premium for the next two or three years either at one go or in easy installments.
It is recommended to opt for a comprehensive policy with an adequate sum insured so that policyholders can have the ease from the hassle of renewing the policy every year. They can even take advantage of the tax benefits with continued protection, Singhal said.
