I had bought a family floater health insurance policy 10 years ago and did not renew it after five years because I got a job that had an insurance cover from my office. After the pandemic, I lost my job. Can I port my office health insurance into a family floater or should I have to buy a new policy?
—Arvind Kumar
Individual members including family members covered under an indemnity-based group health insurance policy have an option to migrate at the time of exit from group or in the event of modifica-tion of the group policy or withdrawal of the group policy, to an individual or family floater health insurance policy offered by the same insurer subject to underwriting. In this case, if you are currently not covered under any group health insurance policy, you may want to get you and your family covered under a new retail health insurance policy.
I will be 69 this month and my wife will be 61 in April, 2021. We don’t have any health insurance policy. I had a bypass surgery in 2016 and now I am in perfect health. My wife is suffering from rheumatic arthritis now. Should we take a comprehensive health insurance policy?
—Jayapal Pillai
You may want to look at different covers for both of you as the age group and health issues are different. Some insurers have a restriction on entry age beyond 65 years. As you have been treated for a heart problem and your wife has a chronic condition, check with some insurers on acceptance as underwriting guidelines differ from insurer to insurer and product to product. Some insurers have certain plans for senior citizens with chronic health issues.
Will an insurance policy have a cap on room charges every day? How can it be increased without a substantial rise in the premium?
—Deepak Shashikant
Policy premium depends on the features of the policy you have opted for. There are policies which offer room rent as a per cent of the sum insured, there are some which offer specific room category or even any room without any limitations as a per cent of sum insured. Policies which have capping on room charges also have optional covers to remove capping or enhancing the room category. It is better to have minimum restrictions even if it costs a little more premium.