Advantages of Long-Term Health Insurance Plans
In recent years, the importance of a comprehensive health insurance policy has increased in our lives. Most people buy health insurance plans that are valid for one year and need to be renewed annually. Renewing your policy within the stipulated time is essential as failing to do so can result in the policy lapsing, which can leave you with no coverage. Hence, if you are faced with a medical emergency, then you will have to bear the expenses yourself. Hence, many insurers have started offering long-term healthcare plans that stay in force for multiple years. Today, we will look at long-term health insurance importance.
Long-term Health Insurance Plans and Their Benefits
While most standard health insurance plans are available for a validity of one year, long-term medical insurance plans have a validity of around 2-3 years. Here are some advantages of health insurance purchased for the long term.
● Discounts
Most insurance companies offer discounts on long-term health insurance plans. Typically, you can expect a discount of around 10% on a two-year health insurance policy and around 15% on a three-year medical insurance plan.
● No hassle of renewing the policy
With an annual health insurance plan, you have to ensure that you renew it every year. This can be a hassle. Also, if you miss the renewal date and the policy lapses, then apart from managing all medical costs yourself, you might lose various continuity and cumulative benefits on your policy. With a long-term healthcare advantage policy, you don’t have to worry about renewing it every year.
● Fixed premium for multiple years
With annual health insurance policies, the insurer tends to increase the premium every year even if the coverage remains the same. This is primarily due to inflation. Further, premium rates are also increased as the age of the policyholder increases. With a long-term health insurance policy, the premium amount is locked for its term. Hence, you don’t have to worry about increasing premium rates yearly.
● Payment of the premium in installments
When you are buying a long-term health insurance policy, the premium amount can be high. However, most insurance providers allow you to pay the premium in instalments. While most insurers have fixed frequencies for installment payments, some allow you to choose the frequency as per your preference.
● Annual tax benefits
The premium paid for a health insurance policy offers certain tax benefits. With annual health plans, the entire premium paid for the policy can be claimed for tax benefits. However, with long-term medical insurance plans, you are allowed to claim benefits of a proportionate amount of the total premium paid.
Remember, there are different types of health insurance plans available like individual health insurance, family health insurance, group health insurance, senior citizens’ health insurance, critical illness insurance, etc. Also, most of these plans are available for multiple years. Make sure that you assess your insurance needs and compare health insurance providers and policies to find the best protection for your needs.
Summing Up
Remember, a long-term health insurance plan offers peace of mind for multiple years. While it has certain benefits, it is not ideal for everyone. Therefore, before you buy, make sure that you assess your health condition and insurance requirements. This can help you create a list of features that you need from the medical insurance policy. Once you are clear about these aspects, start looking at different insurance providers and policies to find the one that gets you the best protection at the most affordable cost. Good Luck!
