The premiums of health insurance covers depend on a lot of factors. If you take those factors into account you can be able to reduce the health policy premium considerably. Here are some steps to minimize the premiums of medical covers available in India.
Buy health insurance at a young age
If you buy health insurance online at an early age, you have to pay less as many a health insurer rises the premiums of their health covers as the age of the applicant increases. The reason being, with increasing age the health risk also increases and with increased health risk increases the health policy premium.
Opt for a health cover with two-year tenure
Your health insurance premiums will definitely reduce if you opt for a policy with two years of tenure. Some of the best health insurers in India like Apollo Munich, Star Health offer two-year health covers. Apart from the reduction on premiums these new health insurance plans also offer many other benefits.
Look for no claim bonuses on policy renewal
This is a good ploy to bring down health insurance renewal premiums. You are eligible for NCB if you don't lodge any claim in a policy year and this NCB helps reduce the premiums in the subsequent year. So, you need to ensure beforehand that your insurer offers NCB on its health insurance policies. Apart from minimizing premiums NCB can also be used to enhance the existing coverage of your health policy.
Opt for a health cover with co-payment option
By choosing to go for co-payment option you can also minimize the premiums of your health insurance policy. At the time of a claim you need to pay the amount chosen by you and your health insurer will pay the rest. Most health insurance companies in India offer co-pay option in the range of 10-25%. If you are fit and healthy you can surely go for it.
Enhance coverage with top up health insurance plans
If your existing mediclaim coverage does not fulfill your needs, purchase top up health insurance plans that best fit your needs. Such a plan gets activated when you have exhausted your basic coverage. It not only cuts premium amount, but also ensures that you have sufficient health insurance coverage.
Manage sub-limits of your health cover well
If your chosen health policy comes with sub-limits on various aspects of coverage, you can manage them wisely to reduce premiums. You can opt out sub-limits for critical ailments as the cost of treatment for life-threatening diseases like cancer, heart-attack is higher. Instead, you can opt for sub-limits for less severe medical issues knee replacement, hernia operation. If you suffer from these ordinary ailments you can pay from your own pocket once the expenses go past sub-limit. This can have your premiums reduced significantly.