Health Insurance Portability- An Easy Transition from One Insurer to the Other

Be it men or women, health insurance has become a major necessity for every individual, irrespective of their age group. Health insurance, the ultimate requisite for life, is no less than a boon. As far as its benefits are concerned, they are many.

Right from covering high medical costs to providing tax benefit, health insurance offers endless advantages. However, it is not that easy to choose.

What’s also a fact is that while many times people are satisfied with the choice of their health insurance policy, there are also times when they want to change their health insurance provider altogether.

If you too have been looking forward to switching to a better health insurance provider, rest assured health insurance portability will be the ideal option for you!

What is Health Insurance Portability?

If you have always thought of a way of transferring your health policy from one insurer to another, here’s health insurance portability at your rescue. By allowing policyholders to transfer their existing health insurance policies to a new health insurance provider, health insurance portability provides policyholders with the much-desired peace of mind.

Customers that feel taken granted for by insurance companies feel benefited with flexibility and better options with the solution of health insurance portability. What’s best is that customers don’t have to worry about losing accrued benefits from the previous policy. In fact, the policyholders can also carry forward the waiting period for coverage of pre-existing diseases. 

Introduced by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) in the year 2011, health insurance portability is a big sigh of relief for those who are dissatisfied with poor service quality, inadequate cover for specific health issues, slow & cumbersome claim settlement, late reimbursements, hidden clauses & conditions or lack of transparency, and other causes.

If your reasons to change the existing health insurance provider are many, first and foremost, take note of the INSURANCE POLICY RIGHTS that you are entitled to:

• Porting policy from and to any general insurance company or specialized health insurance company.
• Porting any individual or family policies.
• Credit is relating to the waiting period (given by the new insurance service provider) for any pre-existing conditions that one has gained from their previous insurance company.
• Insurance of at least up to the sum insured under the previous policy.
• Completion of the porting in accordance with the deadlines prescribed by IRDA by both, the previous and new insurers.

What You Can Port?

Take note that you can port your policy from one insurance provider to another, as long as both are indemnity plans that cover hospitalization, at the time of renewal. Credits on time-bound exclusions and no-claim bonus are also included. What’s important to know is that you can port only to the extent of the sum insured (including no-claim bonus) with the previous insurer.

Documents You Need To Keep Handy: 

From new insurer-

• Duly filled forms, both proposal, and portability.
• Details including forms, medical records, and claim history to be shared on the IRDA website within 7 working days.

From previous insurer-

• Policy certificates from previous years.
• Latest renewal notice with coverage continuity, and other details mentioned in a clear manner.
• Self-declaration in no-claim cases.
• Discharge summary, investigation report, and other additional documents, in case a claim has been made.

​The Application Process:

When to apply?
Health insurance portability should be applied at least 45 days before the expiry of the existing policy, but not before 60 days.

How to apply?
The process requires filling up a form. The insurance regulator keeps the details of all the customers and provide details within 7 days of the insurer placing the request. As far as the insurers are concerned, they can make use of the database to comprehend claims records and other details.

Having said that, are you ready to make the big switch?

Get started with the process right away!

Also, Read

It's Time You Learn To Make the Most of Your Health Insurance Plan

11 Things to Consider When Comparing Critical Illness Insurance Plans