The necessity of health insurance plans cannot be disregarded in today’s times when medical expenses are shooting through the roof. Though these expenses can’t be entirely avoided, they can be insured against through medical insurance.
Earlier, buying health plans proved to be troublesome and never-ending with recurring trips to the health insurance company or contacting an agent for the purchase.
But today, due to the advent and popularity of the internet, buying health insurance can be safely completed online without any hassle. In fact, the online medium has simplified the whole process of buying a health insurance plan.
Furthermore, under the prevailing condition of pandemic and social distancing, which has made having a health plan a necessity, buying a health policy online is the safest and fastest way.
Let’s understand the benefits of buying health insurance online and how simple it is to buy without any stress.
Benefits of Buying Health Insurance Online
There are a lot of benefits of buying a health policy online. Mentioned below are some of them -
1. Lower Premium :
Online health insurance plans are usually cheaper compared to offline ones. The absence of intermediary’s commission and other administration costs in online purchase decreases the premium payable amount significantly.
Benefit: Thus, online health insurance is more pocket-friendly for prospective buyers.
2. Premium Calculator:
These days most insurance company’s websites or insurance aggregator websites provide premium calculators that can easily determine the premium payable by processing the coverage details that you enter.
Benefit: The online health premium calculator, therefore, helps you with the payable premium for different plans in no time.
3. Easy Comparison:
The best part about online medical policies is the access to accurate information at one’s fingertips. One can easily compare the rates of various plans available, their sum insured and respective coverage features.
Benefit: Thus, comparison helps in making an informed decision on which policy to buy which suits your coverage needs.
4. Save time :
With online purchase, the gain in efficiency goes without saying. Moreover, you can do it anywhere, anytime without having to worry about appointments with agents or other manual documentation work that might take longer than necessary.
Benefit: Thus, comparing and purchasing policies online reduces the time taken in buying health plans than buying it offline.
5. Complete transparency:
In case of online purchase you know exactly what you’re paying for and how much. You get all the information about what is covered and what is not covered under each plan with complete transparency before you buy.
Benefit: Thus, online payments or transactions ensure complete transparency in the amount payable.
How to Buy Health Insurance Online?
Let us look at step-by-step process to buying a health insurance online:
1. Determine the sum insured and coverage features:
- An approximate estimate of the required sum insured, taking into account rising medical inflation, must be done.
- You should, therefore, choose the sum insured which is optimal and the coverage benefits which would suit your requirements
2. Compare and Contrast plans:
- There are multiple health plans available and you can buy the best policy through comparing. Therefore, go through different types of plans and riders and measure them against your requirements and needs.
- Premium calculators can be used to determine the premiums payable.
3. Upload documents:
- Once you have chosen the policy, purchase the policy online. Make sure to upload soft copies of all relevant documents asked for.
- The documents usually required are as follows:
- Age proof
- Photo Identity Proof
- Proof of Income
- Proof of Address
- Medical Check-up
4. Complete the payment process:
- Once all necessary information has been entered, you can pay the required amount through various payment modes available on the website. Rest assured your money will be safe as the payment portals are encrypted.
- Soft copy of the transaction confirmation receipt and policy details will be sent to your registered email address.
With just these four steps, you can complete purchasing the policy online. Thus, buying health insurance has never been this easy before.
Things to Keep in Mind While Buying Health Insurance
The most basic pointer while purchasing policies online is to make sure to give priority to the coverage provided and the features of the policy over premiums and popularity.
However, there are some other important pointers to have in mind while purchasing a health plan online:
- Claim Process: It is important to know about the claim settlement ratio and the claim process of the health insurance company. The major stumbling block of any health insurance provider is their claim settlement process; if it is not simple and quick, it might get problematic during emergencies.
- Sub-limits: Always keep in mind all the limitations and exclusions of your chosen policy before opting for it and before filing a health insurance claim. Make sure to go through the fine print of the policy online.
- Waiting Period: Every policy comes with a fixed waiting period. Health insurance waiting periods pertain to coverage of certain illnesses, and only after the period is over does the policy cover for claims under those illnesses, if any. The shorter the waiting period the better. It is one of the reasons why availing a health policy early on is advisable.
- Network Hospitals: Lastly, to avail the cashless treatment facility, check the list of in-network hospitals in and around your area in advance for future convenience.
The alternative to buying health policies online is purchasing them the traditional way, i.e., buying them offline. It is usually done through an agent who represents the insurance company or by visiting the branches of the insurance company. Both these modes, however, might be inconvenient, difficult in comparing various plans, and might have to pay higher premiums.
Buying health insurance online is the easiest and the best. And under the given situation of on-going Covid-19 pandemic, it is a smart decision to buy health insurance online from the comfort of home instantly.
