Health Insurance Policy on EMIs in India: Why is it a Good Idea?

Health Insurance on EMI basis – Is It a Good Idea?

There’s good news for those who already have a health insurance policy or are planning to take one soon. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has introduced a new feature – you can now pay your health insurance premium on EMIs. This would save you from worrying over paying heavy premium amounts in a lump sum every year.

According to the IRDAI, this feature has been introduced to make health insurance plans accessible as well as easily affordable to the general public. Let’s learn more about this new provision of health insurance on EMIs and why it is such a good idea after all.

How Would Health Insurance on EMI Benefit the Common Man?

With the introduction of this new scheme, you can enjoy the benefit of paying a small fixed amount towards your health insurance policy every month, instead of the usual entire payment in one go every year. This makes medical insurance affordable to all, including the rural population, who currently are bereft of any health insurance cover.

Here are some reasons why health insurance on EMI basis is a good idea for all:

• Makes mediclaim easily accessible to all – One of the primary reasons why most people in India, particularly the not-so-financially-well-off, do not have any medical cover is the stringent requirement to pay hefty premiums every year in one go. With the launch of this new feature, more people from all strata of the society would have access to mediclaim. If they cannot afford to pay yearly premiums, they can easily choose to pay it in installments.
• Added convenience for everyone – Not just the rural segment of the society, but even the urban city-dwellers are sure to gain from the EMI on health insurance schemes. It’s always easier to shell out small amounts of premium to pay in installments every month, rather than pay a huge amount all at once.
• Online payments possible – This further adds to our convenience, especially if you consider buying a health insurance policy online. You can then choose to pay the premiums online as well. In fact, you can even opt for an auto-debit feature that would allow for automatic deduction of the premium amount from your account on a specific date every month. This means you’d never have to worry about forgetting your premium payments.
• Allows you to go for more coverage amount on the policy – If you don’t have to worry anymore about paying a heavy premium all at once, you can easily choose to opt for a much higher coverage amount in your mediclaim policy. You will be easily able to pay the premium amount monthly by choosing to buy health insurance on EMI. And, a higher coverage amount also means the privilege to opt for better and more expensive medical treatments.

Why Should You Get Health Insurance?

We discussed the benefit of paying premiums on health insurance on EMI basis over paying them all at once annually. But why should we take health or medical insurance in the first place? Why is it so important to have health cover over your head? Let’s look at a few good reasons:

• With high cost of treatment, health insurance comes in handy. It cannot be denied that every treatment today involves huge expenditure. A single hospital visit is enough to weigh heavy on your pocket. Not to mention the added cost of treatment for the condition, admission expenses (if required), medicines, etc. It can be quite difficult for the common man to gain access to health services in the country without first worrying over the huge expenditure involved. This is where getting a health insurance policy and availing the added advantage of paying premiums on EMIs comes as a blessing.
• It reduces worry for old age. As we grow older, the need for getting medical treatments for one condition or the other also increases. If you have a mediclaim policy in place, you need not worry about meeting these expenses all on your own at that age (especially when you’re retired and without a running monthly income). What’s more – you can easily pay a premium in EMIs without disrupting your monthly budget too much.
• It allows you to secure not just yourself but your entire family. Health problems can happen to anyone – your spouse, kids, parents, or any other immediate member of the family. By getting a health insurance policy that covers all your loved ones, you can secure each member of the family. Whenever any one of them has a health issue, as the treatment cost is easily covered by the policy.
• Mediclaim allows you tax benefits as well. This is one of the best reasons to buy health insurance on EMI. When you pay the premium amount on the policy, you stand eligible for certain tax exemptions as stated under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

How to Pay Health Insurance on EMIs?

As stated above, premiums on health insurance could only be paid annually up to now. However, the recent introduction of the new feature that allows health insurance premiums to be paid on EMI basis has brought some relief to insurance-holders. As per the new provision by the IRDAI, health insurance premium can now be paid in the following ways –

• Monthly
• Quarterly or every 3 months
• Half-yearly or every 6 months, and
• Annually or every year (as earlier)

This means that policy-holders may still choose to continue making annual premium payments, if they deem it so convenient. However, most people are likely to benefit more from monthly or quarterly payment options since they don’t need to pay a heavy amount in one go.

The new policy feature has surely brought in an element of hope for the common man who can now think of buying the best health insurance in India without worrying about having to pay a huge amount of premium all at once.