In a post-pandemic world and economy, the importance of having a strong health insurance plan that provides end-to-end coverage and security has become an imperative necessity. With working professionals having to combat lifestyle disorders, stress and high medical costs, a health insurance plan can be a welcome source of financial support in times of need. The importance of a health insurance plan is not limited to its monetary benefits, but also its customisable perks and facilities which has made it more accessible today.
A health insurance plan is a policy that covers medical costs incurred in the course of a prolonged hospitalization, and costs post discharge as well. It is a general policy that has many variations offered by insurance providers according to age groups and family structure. One may choose from an individual health plan, a family plan, senior citizen coverage and even critical illness insurance plans and also use a health insurance premium calculator to aid the process.
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A health insurance premium calculator is an online tool that helps a person to get an approximate quote as to the premium investment they would have to make for towards their health insurance on the basis of their income, age group, monetary liabilities. A health insurance premium calculator can also calculate the required amount of coverage a potential policyholder ought to avail according to the aforementioned metrics.
Since the insurance market today is replete with options for people across all economic statuses; with in-demand plans like Corona Kavach; the requisites for each are vastly different from one another. From coverage to health insurance claim settlement ratio, plans vary across their included features. The rapid digitization[1] of the process of buying an insurance plan also aids in the usage of these online resources instead of traditional methods which may be time consuming. Different factors such as lifestyle, health conditions, age, and income determine the choice of a health insurance plan. A health insurance premium calculator also uses these fields to calculate projected premiums for a plan.
Let us look at the factors effecting health insurance premiums in detail:
- Age: Buying a prolonged health insurance plan in one’s mid-twenties is the ideal decision, as the cost of premiums is significantly less and one can alter their terms of coverage once they have major life developments such as a marriage or a child. A health insurance premium calculator also asks for the policyholder’s age while calculating the approximate premium, as it is an important factor for insurance providers.
- Lifestyle Habits: The first step that a health insurance premium calculator requires the potential policyholder to enter in order to calculate premiums is their apart from their Age, Gender, Annual Income is if they have tobacco dependency.
- Chances of Hereditary Illnesses or Previous Illnesses: One of the factors insurance providers gauge is if the policyholder has any existing medical conditions, or if their family has a history of illness. Since illnesses require additional coverage, the premium costs for such policyholders will be higher.
- Gender: Insurance providers check the life-expectancy of the respective gender of the policyholder while choosing a plan. A health insurance premium calculator also calculates the projected premiums on the basis of gender being one of the fields. Since women have a higher life-expectancy, they may have lower premium costs.
- Policy Tenure: The choice of coverage tenure that one makes also influences the premium costs paid over the years. A health insurance premium calculator also asks for this field as a calculating metric.
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Now that the factors effecting health insurance premiums have been established, let us take a look at the benefits of using a health insurance premium calculator:
- Saves Time: A health insurance premium calculator does not require the potential policyholder to upload or send in any hard documents in order to get their premium projections and suggested plans It only requires one to full in details such as their income, assets and debts which can give an instant approximation through the data entered by the policyholder. It saves time and energy.
- Compare Plans: Apart from showing the projected premiums, a health insurance premium calculator also shows the various plans provided by insurance providers that coincide with the projected figures. One does not have to go through several plans, but is only shown the plan options most suited to their economic structure and requirement.
- Financial Visibility: Using a health insurance premium calculator, a potential policyholder is able to accurately project their premium amount which gives them prior financial visibility about the funds they need to maintain in order to be able to insure themselves.
- Cost-Effective: Since it removes any additional consultation costs by placing the health insurance premium calculator online or all to use, it is a cost-effective way of getting policy quotes, check health insurance claim settlement ratio and more through plans by the potential policyholder themselves. It is highly accessible and convenient, where one does not have to ask for an in-person paid consultation in order with a financial advisor but make an informed decision themselves.
The process of choosing health insurance plans is one that is simplified by doing adequate research and putting a thorough check with all conditions, exclusions that an insurance plan may have and compare those with their needs. This process is streamlined with the help of online resources like a health insurance premium calculator, which provides additional visibility to a potential policyholder before purchasing.
