Tips to Cut Health Insurance Premium in 2016

Today, the cost of hospitalization and medical expenses is exorbitantly high. Health insurance premium rates are increasing due to a host of things like medical inflation, increase in chronic conditions, family history of ailments and demographic factors of individuals like health, age, etc. Insurers then, pass down these high costs to policyholders. In order to avoid unwanted spending, calculate health insurance premium. It helps you to compare quotes of different companies and unveils good plan options.

Follow the below tips to reduce your healthcare premiums:

Buy health insurance plan when you are young

Age is an important contributor to premium costs. The younger you are, the lesser you have to pay. As age increases, health risks increases, and so does your insurance premiums. Hence, it is advisable to get a health plan when you are young, instead of buying after complications arise due to old age.

Opt for co-payment plans

Co-pay plans require the policyholder to pay a certain percentage of the covered costs. The insurance company then pays the remaining costs. If you are young and healthy, opt for a co-payment plan. Opting for such a plan will cut down on your premium costs.

Purchase family floater plans

Instead of getting an individual health insurance cover, opt for a family floater. It could prove to be much cheaper. You can compare the cost of both individual and family floater plans, using a health insurance premium calculator and chose the one that lowers your premium burden.

Buy online

Pricing is the main differentiator between online and offline health insurance plans as other features are almost similar. The benefits of lower transaction costs and negligent distribution costs are then passed on to the customer through lower premiums. Online policies are around 10-20% lower than their offline counterparts.

Chose a policy that does not take previous claims into consideration

More the number of claims, higher is your perceived risk to the insurers. If you have made a claim in the past, insurers charge a higher premium. Therefore, buy a policy with a company that does not consider past claims in order to cut down premium rates.

 

Use a top-up policy

A top-up policy is an additional coverage for those with existing health insurance plans. It is reimbursement of expenditure beyond the limit of the existing cover. A top up policy not only reduces your premium cost, it also ensures that you have sufficient health insurance coverage when you have exhausted your basic coverage.

A health insurance policy is a financial investment. It is important to understand the policy terms, details, conditions and premium cost before finalizing on a plan. Compare the premium costs of various insurers through a mediclaim premium calculator and chose the best-suited one. Follow the above-mentioned tips prudently, thereby trimming your premium costs.