Ever since portability got official in Indian health insurance sector, many policyholders have switched from their existing to new insurers. A majority of the moved out of the public sector insurers to the private providers. Hence, the private industry got beneficial.
Portability is believed to change the face of the health industry. Under this scheme, the existing policyholders can shift their ongoing plans to an insurer of their choice without compromising on the waiting periods.
This provides great flexibility and a chance to get better benefits at a decent rate.
Over one lakh policies have been ported in the last fiscal year. The largest gainer has been Star Health Insurance. The company received 58,705 inward policies and lost only 9,479 outward policies. Apollo Munich came in second with 21,000 private plans. Tata AIG, Max Bupa, Future Generali and Universal Sompo were the other big gainers.
While the trend is on the rise, industry experts warn the policyholders to be aware of the dynamics before porting their plans. Along with the many benefits, health insurance portability also brings along new sets of exclusions, waiting periods and deductibles. The proposer must understand these clauses well and only then finalise the port.