Health insurance is a great way to ensure that you and your family stay protected from the financially draining effects of undergoing medical treatment. Even if you’re extremely fit and healthy, you never know when a medical emergency may strike you. So, it is better to be prepared rather than get caught off guard.
If you haven’t already invested in a health insurance plan or are considering doing it in the near future, a long term health insurance plan might just be the best option for you. So, what is long term health insurance and how does it differ from regular health insurance plans? Continue reading to find out.
A long term health insurance policy is a health insurance plan with a tenure of around 2 or 3 years. With long term medical insurance, you can get coverage for pre-existing diseases (PED), which may not always be applicable in the case of regular health insurance plans. However, in order for the plan to cover PED, you would have to successfully cross the waiting period specified under the plan.
Long-term health insurance plans offer a multitude of benefits to the policyholder. Wondering what they are? Here’s a quick glimpse at a few of them.
This is one of the biggest advantages of a long term health insurance policy. Since you’re effectively taking out a policy for 2 to 3 years, you don’t have to keep renewing your plan each year. You can simply pay the premiums once, sit back, and enjoy coverage for the next 2 to 3 years.
Many long term health insurance companies offer savings on premiums. Especially if you choose to pay a lump sum single premium. Thanks to such discounts, the long term health insurance cost gets reduced significantly, lessening your financial burden.
As you’ve already seen above, long term health insurance plans generally cover pre-existing diseases (PED). Such plans are a great boon to individuals already suffering from diseases.
You never know when the long term health insurance costs might see a rise. However, you can protect yourself from future premium increases by opting for long term health insurance. So, even if the health insurance premium rises during the tenure of your health insurance plan, you will continue to remain unaffected by it.
If you’re an individual who prefers to not go through the hassle of renewing their health insurance plan each year, then long term health insurance might just be what you’re looking for.
Alternatively, if you’re an individual who is suffering from any pre-existing diseases (PED), regular health insurance plans may not be able to provide you any coverage for them. In such cases, a long term health insurance policy would be the perfect option since you can get coverage for PED after the expiry of the waiting period.
Also, a long term plan may be more beneficial for older individuals since it offers better coverage for a longer duration.
Now that you’re aware of long term health insurance, let’s take a look at the differences between it and a regular plan.
Long term health insurance |
Regular health insurance |
The tenure of these plans range from 2 to 3 years. |
The tenure of a regular health insurance plan is just 12 months. |
There’s no need to renew the plan each year. |
To enjoy continuous coverage, you would have to renew the plan every 12 months. |
Pre-existing diseases are covered, albeit with a waiting period. |
Pre-existing diseases are not covered. |
Generally, long term health insurance plans tend to be more comprehensive. |
Although regular health insurance plans provide adequate coverage, they may not be as comprehensive as long-term health insurance. |
As you can see, long term health insurance plans can be very beneficial to you. However, before you go ahead and invest in one, always make sure to read through the terms and conditions of the policy thoroughly. This will not only allow you to make a more informed decision, but also ensure that you get the best long term health insurance for yourself.
One of the primary reasons why you should purchase a long term health insurance plan is that you don’t have to renew your policy each year. Also, you get coverage for any pre-existing diseases that you might already be suffering from, provided that you ride through the waiting period.
Cashless settlement is when your insurance service provider settles all your medical bills directly with the healthcare provider. Under this, you won’t have to pay anything out of your own pocket.
Yes. Long term health plans cover pre-existing conditions and diseases. However, the coverage for those conditions begin only after the specified waiting period expires.
The cost of a typical long term health insurance varies from one individual to another and depends on a host of factors such as age, pre-existing conditions or diseases, and the amount of sum insured, among others.
Of course. You are free to purchase any number of long term health insurance plans as you like.