Portability Feature in Health Insurance: Everything You Need to Know

Life is all about experiences and choices. Sometimes, we face good things and choose to stay with them, whereas try to switch from the bad ones. It’s always better to hop towards better. The health insurance industry offers a similar sort of benefit known as Portability, to its policyholders. This feature allows policyholders to switch to a better or required policy.

Health Insurance Portability

Health insurance portability is a benefit with which policyholders can switch from one insurer to another insurer. No doubt, dissatisfied customers are everywhere and the portability feature lets them get rid of poor service and avails additional extra cover or other benefits.

The portability option stimulates the fact that insurance providing firms don’t take their customers for granted, otherwise, the latter can switch to another insurer. Also, it assists in strengthening the competition and offering better options to current customers. The best part of the portability option is that policyholders who choose it can change the plan without losing any benefits accrued.

Reasons to Use Portability Option!

When it comes to choosing a new health insurance policy by availing the portability feature, policyholders may find it confusing to decide the time as when to opt for health insurance portability option and switch to another health insurance policy provider. However, it can easily be simplified, if some points are kept in mind.

• Poor Service – If your insurer couldn’t be able to live up to your expectations and not giving the promised quality of service, then it’s time to switch the plan using the portability option. Many insurance providing agencies often fail to offer services as per their quality assurances. Thus, their customers are left with no point to stay with them in such cases.

• Additional Coverage – People find trouble in getting completely secured from some of the policies. In such conditions, the portability option can be used to gain sufficient coverage against certain health issues by shifting to a service provider that covers all your medical requirements.

• Sluggish Claim Settlement – With a health insurance plan, a successful claim is the most important thing. If your insurer doesn’t show promptness for your claim process, then you can look for better companies.

• Obscured Clauses – Transparency is a crucial thing for every customer when he or she poises to associate with any insurer. Sometimes, hidden clauses turn out to be a major concern at the time of medical emergencies and it becomes rational to port to an insurer who has no hidden clause and considered as a transparent firm.

• Better Offer – In this cut-throat environment, many names in the industry come up with new and more offerings that may make you reconsider your plan. If you find yourself paying a very high amount for the services you can opt for portability option. This can get you better value for your money and can let you grab some great deals.

Benefits of Health Insurance Portability

• Personalised Plan – The portability of health insurance policy option lets customers modify their insurance plans to meet their health and financial needs. With this facility, one can easily add nominees or select additional coverage, according to changes in life.

• Revised Sum Insured – When portability is executed, the current Sum Insured is added to the Accrued Bonus to find the new Sum Insured. The No Claim Bonus is a feature that is added to the revised Sum Insured during the portability.

• Zero time-bound exclusions – People can select this portability feature without worrying any time-bound exclusions.

• Continuation of previous benefits – All the features and benefits of an old policy continue to stay in force after portability as before.

• Lower premiums – Soaring competition assures that organisations are willing to provide present benefits at lower premiums. This facility gives policyholders an opportunity to save money.

• Better service – The policyholders can select an insurer that is renowned and widely appreciated for its great service and constant support to customers.

• Claim settlement process – If customers are finding their insurer’s claim settlement procedure slow and tedious, they can shift to another health insurance company with better claim settlements.

• Transparency – The portability feature allows the insurance customers a chance to shift to a new insurance provider that can deliver transparent services and coverage without hiding any clause or condition.

Medical Insurance Portability: Its Drawbacks

Despite various benefits of the portability feature, there are some drawbacks as well.

• Time – The portability option is allowed to avail only at the time of renewal. It can lead many people to suffer till the time of renewal.

• No policy change - The insurance plan customers can only get shifted to policies which are similar to their existing one and not in policies different from their existing ones.

• Loss of benefits – When policyholders port from group health insurance plans to individual health insurance policies, then they might not find all the benefits included in their previous plan. 

Rules Governing Health Insurance Portability

Various rules have been laid down by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India. You need to consider them before going for the health insurance portability feature. Key highlights of the conditions are:

• Like-to-like health policies – Policyholders who are opting for the facility of portability should keep in mind that similar or like-to-like health policies are portable. It means that customers can shift from a basic reimbursement policy to another basic reimbursement policy only or from a top-up policy to another top-up policy only.

• General or Specialised portability – Policyholders can shift their health insurance plans from any general to the general health insurance company only and from a specialised to the specialised health insurance company only.

• Policy Types – When it comes to porting, only individual and family policies are allowed. No group health insurance plan can be ported. Also, individual plans can be ported to individual plans only, while family plans can be ported to family policies only.

• Renewal time – Individuals are allowed to avail the portability feature only at the time of renewal and during no other time.

• Notice – Policyholders trying to avail portability feature are required to notify their existing insurance firm in writing. They should state the firm that they are about to port their plan. This must be done 45 days prior to their renewal period.

• Renewability – When it comes to renewability, the customers should keep on renewing their plans without any delay. Any break in it due to insurers fault won’t be treated as discontinuity and portability option can be processed without any hassle.

• Acknowledgement – Insurance providing companies have to acknowledge the applications for portability within three days.

Also Read 

Health Insurance Portability – How You Can Benefit from It?

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Conclusion

These are some pieces of information about the portability option in health insurance. Hope, this will help you avail the portability feature in the best manner without any hassle.

Let’s know if you are not happy with your health insurance company and want to switch to a new insurer. Dial our toll-free number 1800-1205-698.  We will help you get the best solution.