For the relevance of the customers holding a health insurance policy, there’s always an option to switch their health insurance providers. This way, they possess their rights and won’t feel bound to the existing one if not satisfied by it. The best part about switching health insurance providers? You don’t lose the ensuing benefits from your previous insurance policy.

Do you need to switch Health Insurance Providers?

So, the solid reasons you should consider switching health insurance providers would be in case of:

• Poor services by existing policy
• Better prices from another provider
• Irregular reimbursements
• Bad claim settlements
• Lack of transparency or Hidden Clauses in Your Current Plan
• Lack of proper coverage by the policy for specific health issues
• Better offerings by another health insurance provider in a reasonable budget

If you are facing one of the above problems, no need to worry! You can cancel your contract with the existing health insurance provider and consider switching to another one at ease. 

Before Switching Health Insurance Providers

Before switching the insurance policies, you must:

• Get a whole of market review for various offerings by insurance policies.
• Review your health insurance before renewal as there can be premium differences between your current one and the renewable one.
• Review from advised sources.
• Compare and consider which health cover is most beneficial to you.
• Understand the policies and consequences of switching.

Also, you must have an in-depth look at the following factors of the new health insurance providers for your best interests:

• Claim Process
• Comparison of Medical Insurance Plans
• Lifetime Renewability
• Availability of maternity benefits if needed
• Availability of Free Medical Check-Up

Policies to know about Switching Health Insurance Providers

• The only time at which you can switch the health insurers is the time when there is the renewal of the existing one.
• You can only port similar health policies. The people with reimbursement plans in an insurance policy are allowed to switch to other reimbursement plans, not to a top-up plan and vice-versa.
• All the terms of the new policy are at the discretion of the new insurance company, excluding the waiting period credit.
• The insurance company is bound to acknowledge switching applications within 2-3 days.
• There are no switching charges. So, don’t let an insurance policy fool you by impending more charges.
• While the switching is still under process, the policyholders are allowed a 30-day grace period for the renewal of the existing policy. Though they are not bound to pay for the entire year, they can buy a pro-rata premium.
• The policyholders can also switch to individual health cover from group health or family health cover policies.

How to switch Health Insurance Providers?

The policyholders would need to submit a written application to their existing Health Insurance providers for the switching process at least 45 days before renewal. The application should include the company’s name to which the policyholder needs to switch. The applications not submitted in a specific time might not be considered and can be rejected. The documents that would be required during the process are:

• Previous years of policy certificates
• Renewal notice
• Self-confirmation of policyholders for switching
• Discharge Summary
• Investigation Report

Pitfalls of Switching Health Insurance Providers

The down-sides of switching health insurance providers to be aware of:

• Policy Holders can only port to a similar type of policy.
• Additional benefits may be offered at higher premiums.
• The switching from group insurance policies to individual ones might result in the loss of suitable benefits of the previous policy.

Conclusion

After considering all the factors, it would be your critical decision of whether to opt for switching health insurance providers or not. So, choose wisely!