Health Insurance has to be one of your crucial investments. Therefore, you need to have a good health insurance policy that suits all your needs. However, many are unhappy with their current health insurance providers. For them, the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDA) has devised a very convenient method, i.e. Health Insurance Portability.

Health Insurance Portability allows you to transfer your existing health insurance policies to a new health insurance provider. With the help of portability, the insurance companies will not take you for granted and offer you flexibility as well as better and more options.

Another perk of Health Insurance Portability is that you get complete freedom to switch to a better health insurance provider. Also, you do not have to worry about losing accrued benefits from the previous policy. It is also possible for you to carry forward the waiting period for coverage of pre-existing diseases.

Now, let us look into some of the common reasons why you could choose to port your existing health insurance providers:

1. You might have received awful service quality.
2. Inadequate cover must have been provided for certain health issues.
3. The claim settlement could be slow and complicated.
4. Late reimbursements.
5. Co-payment clauses might be another reason.
6. There might be an issue of room rent limits.
7. Another health insurance provider could offer you better deals and more economical offering.

Pros of Health Insurance Portability

• You can easily change or modify your current policy according to your current health condition or needs as well as lifestyle changes. In short, portability allows customization. You can also opt for additional cover or add fresh nominees.
• The sum insured which is already existing is clubbed with any bonus accrued to figure the new sum insured. Also, the cumulative bonus will be added to the new sum insured.

Along with pros of health insurance portability, it is also essential to look into the cons of it:

Cons

• You can only opt for portability when you are about to renew your existing insurance policy.
• It is only possible for you to port to a similar kind of policy, you cannot port to different one.

Health Insurance Portability has its own rules; here are some:

1. It is only possible to port similar health policies.

2. Type of company

You can only port policies from any general or specialized insurance company to another specialized or general insurance company.

3. Only during renewal

Portability is not allowed while your existing insurance policy is active. It is only possible to port during the current health insurance renewal time.

4. Intimation

It is essential that you let your current insurance company know in writing that you wish to port to another insurance company. Also, mention which company you want to port to. You must provide this intimation 45 days before you renew your existing policy.

5. Acknowledgement

The portability application must be acknowledged within three days by the Insurance companies.

6. Porting charges

Any such porting costs are not involved in health insurance portability.

7. Premiums

Insurers can levy premiums according to their underwriting norms. Therefore, it is not necessary that premiums will remain the same for similar coverage.

8. Grace Period

If the porting is under process or the new insurer hasn’t responded, then, in that case, you will be allowed a 30-day grace period for renewing your policy.

9. Sum Insured

You can choose to increase the minimum sum insured while porting. The approval of the increased sum is subject to acceptance by the new insurer. But also, the new insurers must provide at least the minimum insurance equal to the old policy’s original sum insured.

10. Pre-Existing Diseases Waiting Period

You must serve the entire pre-existing diseases waiting period if you apply for an increase in cover.

11. Shifting plans with the same company

You can port out from one plan to another within the same company.

Before you make the final switch, it is imperative that you first understand the product being ported to. Be it a health insurance plans for family members or a policy for seniors, it is important to know the coverage, features and benefits of the plan you are switching to. Also, know its differences with the policy that you previously had, in terms of sum insured slabs, pricing, waiting period, hospital networks, etc.