How Age Affects Your Health Insurance Premiums

Posted on: Sep 17, 2018 | 3 mins | Written by: HDFC ERGO Team

How Age Affects Your Health Insurance Premiums

Remember how, as a child, you couldn’t wait to grow up wanting to go to college, start a career and live your dream. But reality burst your bubble! Now, you are just busy managing bills finances, maintaining work-life balance and often wonder how your parents used to do it all. Well, let’s just admit – being an adult isn’t that amazing. Also, now there’s one more additional thing that always concerns you – your loved ones’ health and that’s why you opt for health insurance. Do you know that with your age, your policy plan too gets changed? Let us find out.

Does Health Insurance Premium Increase with Age?

With the age of the policyholder, the health insurance premium also increases. The younger you are, the lower your premium will be. Conversely, as you grow older, the cost of mediclaim premium tends to increase.

At a young age, you are less susceptible to health issues, and the chances of your hospital visits are almost negligible. Due to this, you hardly submit any claims during your policy tenure. Hence, insurers identify you as a low-risk candidate and charge you low premiums for your health insurance plans.

As you grow older, you are prone to health disorders. This leads to frequent doctor consultations and hospital visits. The chances of claim submission are also high. Due to these factors, insurers identify you as a high-risk candidate and charge you high premiums for your insurance, whether they are individual plans or family health insurance plans.

Why Do Health Insurance Premiums Increase with Age?

Now that you know the answer to the question, “Does health insurance premium increase with age?” here are other important factors that lead to an increase in premium rates:

• Weakened Immunity

As you grow old, your immune system becomes weak. Your body struggles to fight against infections. Hence, you often fall sick, leading to increased healthcare expenses. Your insurer charges you a high premium to cover your medical costs.

• Increased Health Risks

With age, your overall health sees a downward trend, and you fall sick more frequently than before. With your requirement for medical care constantly on the rise, insurers consider you highly risky and charge you high premiums for your policies.

• Increased Risk of Hospitalisation

Your chance of hospitalisation increases with age. Your health may deteriorate, and you may be diagnosed with chronic disorders. With medical costs and hospitalisation expenses increasing exponentially, insurers consider you “high-risk”, as a result of which your premium charges are high.

• Increased Outpatient Visits

Doctor checkups, consultation charges, treatments, follow-ups and other outpatient services are required more frequently by older adults than youngsters. Therefore, as you grow old, your premium charges will increase with your risk factor also increasing correspondingly.

• Increased Risk of Surgeries

Due to chronic health disorders and wear and tear of your organs, you are at an increased risk of surgeries as you grow older. The chances of you submitting claims for surgeries are higher during this phase. Hence, insurance companies charge you a high rate of premium to cover this risk.

• Longer Recovery Times

After surgeries or treatments, your body may take a long time to recover in your old age. Your healthcare expenses can shoot up during this time, as you may have to undergo longer sessions of treatments, therapies and rehabilitation procedures. These factors play a big role in increasing your premiums.

Why Purchase a Health Insurance Plan at a Young Age?

A health insurance plan is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity. As people’s lifestyles and dietary habits change, it is not uncommon to witness issues like hypertension, obesity, diabetes, etc., even among youngsters. Getting health coverage is important, regardless of age.

However, when you buy health cover at a young age, you can enjoy many benefits. The first and foremost of these benefits is the reduced premium rates. For example, for a ₹10 lakh coverage, premium charges for a 25-year-old may be around ₹5000 per year. However, the same policy could carry an annual premium of ₹8000 for a 40-year-old.

The formalities for buying health insurance for youngsters are considerably simpler and quicker compared to older adults. Youngsters don’t have to undergo pre-medical checks and other health screening tests. They can easily buy health insurance even through online sources. On the other hand, it is a long process for older adults to buy health insurance.

Also, almost all health insurance policies have a waiting period of 2 to 3 years to cover pre-existing diseases. This is why opting for health insurance when you are young is a prudent decision. If you or your family members are detected with any health issues, you will have already served the waiting period, making you eligible for immediate coverage.

Why Do Premiums Change?

• Health Insurance Premium increases with age as it is believed that with rising age, chances of health problems also rise and that’s why accordingly the premium amount also increases.

• While we were busy going from teenage to middle age to being a senior citizen, the medical facilities also advanced by leaps and bounds and now they cost a lot. Fees of doctors, medicine charges, treatment costs, etc., keep getting more expensive year after year, and to pay for all that, we find an increase in our health insurance premium payments. The other important factors that play a vital role in premium calculation are pre-existing medical conditions, family medical history, gender, profession, any addictions, etc.

On the basis of these factors, the provider develops a profile for a category of clients to estimate how many times they will seek medical assistance in a year and then decide the insurance premium cost and the coverage. HDFC ERGO is a trusted insurance provider that makes schemes keeping the benefits of the customer in mind.

What Else Starts Changing?

• With growing age, providers start insisting on thorough medical check-ups to determine any pre-existing ailment. For senior citizens especially, the treatment for some pre-existing medical conditions is covered but only after one or two years of the policy period. Many providers don’t even include these ailments in the coverage and so, read carefully about the benefits.

• Similarly, there are good chances that the period of pre and post hospitalisation, for which reimbursement is given, will get reduced with age.

Following a few steps, like keeping an eye on family floater scheme benefits, top-ups and other discounts, will help to see how you can make the most of the scheme even when age is not on your side.

FAQs

1. What is the relationship between age and health insurance premiums in India?

In India, your insurance premium rates increase with your age. Young people pay lower premium rates for the same health insurance policy than older adults.

2. Does my health insurance premium increase with my age in India?

Yes, insurance premium charges increase with age. As you grow old, you are more prone to health issues, hospitalisation, chronic disorders and more. Hence, insurers consider you a high-risk applicant. They charge you increased premium rates to cover these health risks.

3. What is the right time to buy health insurance?

You should buy health insurance as soon as you start working, probably by your twenties, and maximum by your early thirties. This way, you can enjoy the benefits of lower premium rates and immediate coverage, as you would have served the waiting period in most cases.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purposes only. For more details, please refer to the policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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