Perks of buying health insurance at an early age

Aiming ahead

Health insurance is a must-have product today to access quality healthcare. For any medical emergencies that arise anytime and anywhere, regardless of one’s age, health insurance is a must since it offers the financial backup you need during such emergencies. Hospitalisation and surgeries can burn deep holes in your pockets and cause a dent in your hard-earned savings. All these can be avoided if you plan ahead of time and invest in health insurance. Thus, this National Youth Day, let’s understand the value of opting for a comprehensive health insurance plan early on in life.

Why buy health insurance early in life?

The adage “age is just a number” is quite well known. However, when viewed through the perspective of health insurance, age is the main element that impacts how expensive or economical a policy will be. Whether a person pays a high premium or a low one completely depends on the age at which they purchase insurance. Age benefits a person in numerous ways when they are young. Good health is the key to lower insurance premium rates. Youth has better health than someone twice their age, thus, they have to pay a lower premium for insurance.

Here are a few other advantages of investing in health insurance at an early age:

Waiting period: Prior to the waiting period ranging from 30 days to four years for previously existing ailments, policyholders are not permitted to submit claims under health insurance policies. Typically, a younger person has no serious medical concerns. Therefore, since they are less likely to require health insurance coverage as soon as they purchase it, people in their twenties or thirties can easily exhaust the waiting period and submit claims when they need it. On the other side, as people get older, they are more likely to experience health issues and might have pre-existing ailments. Therefore, if someone buys health insurance at an older age, they may need to submit a claim before the waiting period is up and have their claim denied as a result.

Early bird gets low premium cost: A general rule in health insurance is that people should buy health coverage as soon as possible because the cost of insurance premiums tends to increase as people get older. Young people are less likely than senior people to suffer from major ailments, thus, they will get health coverage at a low premium rate. Therefore, it can be quite cost-effective to purchase health insurance when one is young to benefit from high coverage at low premium charges.

Tax benefit: Though you must not buy health insurance simply to earn tax deductions, the premiums paid on health insurance plans are indeed subject to tax deductions under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. What’s more, you can also claim deductions on the health insurance premiums paid to cover your parents, spouse and children. One can save this amount in taxes for each year of healthcare coverage if one purchases insurance at an early age. Although purchasing health insurance later in life will still provide the same benefit, doing so will result in greater net tax savings over the course of one’s career.

No-claim bonus: The bearer is entitled to a cumulative bonus for each year without a claim during the policy’s term. There are also free medical check-ups included as part of the benefits of some plans that help prevent or detect illnesses early so that they can be cured easily. Younger people have a higher likelihood of being healthy, thus, they can easily boost their cumulative bonus with each year that goes by, which raises their policy’s sum insured and provides better coverage for medical emergencies.

Bottom line

As one can see, a comprehensive health insurance cover gives you much-needed peace of mind and keeps you clear of the financial burden of life. The advantages of buying at a young age are numerous. Moreover, keeping inflation and the improbabilities of life in mind, health insurance has become a necessity today. Thus, in order to safeguard long-term financial goals and ensure access to top-notch healthcare throughout one’s whole life, it is advisable to purchase a comprehensive health insurance policy as soon as possible.

Securing health with a comprehensive health insurance plan ensures both health and financial security in the long run.

(The writer is Chief Marketing Officer, ManipalCigna Health)