Advertisements usually state an early start can ensure an incredible journey. As parents of a young child, you know this very well. Life has taught you enough times that starting early is the key to many successful journeys. Be it an actual journey or a metaphorical one. Buying health insurance is no different.
Start Early On Your Health Insurance Journey
This is equally true for your health insurance journey. Having seen enough of the ups and downs of life, you are convinced about it. How do you convince your 22-year-old child who has just started working about insurance, though?
Here’s how you can explain the importance of starting early with health insurance to your child.
Lower Premiums When You Start Early
Insurers calculate health insurance premiums based on a lot of factors. One of the key factors is the age of the insured person. And, as you know, health risks increase with age. The lower the age of the insured person, the lesser are the health risks. That’s why insurers charge a lower premium to younger people.
The health insurance premium for ₹5 lakhs coverage for a 25-year-old is ₹5 thousand. The same coverage for a 35-year-old is ₹7 thousand. It is ₹12 thousand for a 45-year-old. The sooner you buy health insurance, the lesser the premium.
No Claims Bonus
The chances of a young person not claiming are higher than that of an older person. Hence, almost every year for the initial years, your child can avail of no claims bonus. This can be used for a lower premium or higher sum insured at the time of renewal. This will further discount the already lower premiums.
Breeze Through the Waiting Period
Most insurance policies have a waiting period for certain ailments and conditions. This is generally 2 to 4 years. After purchasing the policy, an insured person cannot make claims for these conditions during this period. After this period has elapsed, an insured person can make claims for these ailments.
A younger person has significantly fewer chances of having these ailments. They can easily breeze through the waiting period without having the condition. Once the waiting period is done, they are covered for those conditions.
Tax Benefits
Your child can avail of exemptions under section 80D of the income tax act. This can be claimed on insurance premiums for self, spouse and dependents. If you purchase health insurance sooner, you can claim tax benefits for that many more years. This is also one excellent benefit of buying insurance at a younger age.
Broader Coverage
Pre-existing conditions are conditions or diseases which the insured person had before purchasing the policy. When you start early, chances are very high that you do not have any pre-existing conditions.
When you purchase your health insurance policy early in life, your total coverage becomes broader. Afterwards, even if you have those ailments, you are already covered by your policy. Over the years, you get covered for many more conditions than someone who purchased insurance late.
No Pre-Medical Health Check-Ups
For most policies, when you purchase early, you do not need to undergo pre-medical check-ups. But as you purchase health insurance later in life, the chances of a pre-medical check-up increase.
Lower Chances of Rejection
As you grow older, the chances of diabetes, cardiac and similar conditions increase. It can become increasingly harder to get insurance cover with age. For older people with these conditions, insurers charge a higher premium. Or they include heavy co-payment clauses. A co-payment clause means that the insured person has to bear a portion of the medical expenses. In some extreme cases, insurers may reject the cover altogether.
When you are purchasing insurance at an earlier age, your chances of rejection are much lower.
COVID-19 Cover
Most health insurance policies cover COVID-19 related medical expenses subject to limits and conditions.
Lifestyle Related Diseases
Lifestyle-related diseases are diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, lung disorders etc. The rate of incidence of these diseases, even amongst the younger people, has been steadily rising. The sooner you are covered for these ailments, the better it is.
Daycare Treatment Cover
Daycare treatments are those treatments that need less than 24 hours of hospitalisation. Most health insurance policies cover daycare treatments.
Employer Cover May Not Be Enough
Employer cover lasts only during your term of employment. It may have specific vague terms, conditions, and limits. Also, it may not be comprehensive. During an emergency, an inadequate cover can cause added trauma.
Better Safe than Sorry
It’s always better to be prepared to mitigate medical emergencies with your own insurance cover. This is also because emergencies don’t give you time to prepare. Therefore, it is best to be financially prepared for medical emergencies.
You may use all these points to convince your 22-year-old to buy health insurance.
Read about the Benefits of Buying Health Insurance here