Buy early and hike periodically

This particular news talks about buying health insurance at a young age. Buying a health insurance is very much important for youngsters specially college graduates and who have just begun to work. It is often a common perception of youngsters that they are too young to purchase insurance simply because they do not possess any health issues at this particular age. While experts counter to this statement is that ‘purchase of health cover should be the first step in a person’s financial planning’. Experts suggest that a 25-year old should purchase a health cover of minimum of Rs 10 lakh and should go bigger if they can afford it. A 25-year old buying a high value policy now will be covered even in his/her 40s.

Advantages of buying a policy early-

• All insurance policies come with a waiting period, which could be about two years for conditions like cancer, cataract, and knee replacement. Therefore, it is best to buy a health insurance early and finish this period while the individual is young and healthy.
• When the person reaches the age of 40 to 45, he or she may contract some diseases then insurers could refuse to insure him or her. If the individual agrees, it may apply a loading on the premium or it may exclude those diseases that the individual already has.
•  Buying a health insurance early also has its monetary benefits. Health insurance policies offer no- claim bonus (NCB) which is an increase in the amount of money insured (10%) for each passing year of no claim.
• Some health insurance providers offer an early-entry discount like Go Active who offers a 10% discount throughout the life of the policy for individuals who buy it before 35 years of age.

Health insurance is generally expensive. Therefore, customers of health insurance must view buying a health insurance so as to reduce the future costs. Instead of going for a base policy, customers must buy a super top-up policy. This is a more cost effective way of attaining a large sum of money insured.  Customers can also reduce the premium of the insurance by doing physical exercise. For example, a major player in the insurance sector, Aditya Birla Health Insurance offers a discount up to 30% on premium to customers who meet fitness-related goals.