Young people naturally have a better defence mechanism, making them less prone to illnesses.
But unfortunately, contradictory to what anyone would like to believe, feeling healthy is not a permanent life state. You may be healthy today, but tomorrow is unpredictable!
Unforeseen medical emergencies can arise at any time and at any age. Who can forget the COVID-19 pandemic that stormed everyone’s lives? Whether it is an unexpected health issue or an accident, it can lead to substantial out-of-pocket expenses if you do not have an adequate health insurance plan.
Why is Health Insurance Important from an Early Age?
It is not unusual now to hear about a young 35-year-old suffering from a cardiac arrest, clearly highlighting that diseases know no age bar in this modern, fast-paced life. In fact, in Kashmir alone the heart-related problems have doubled in just five years. Doctors in Kashmir have now noticed the growing number of year-round cases of cardiac emergencies, especially in youngsters. They have recognised unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle, stress, pollution as the primary markers for this rise. Leaving health insurance out of your priority list can, thus, be risky.
When you opt for health insurance in early years of life, you are deemed to have a low-risk profile since young people are considered healthy individuals. This implies that your policy application is less likely to be rejected, and you may not even need to go through a pre-policy medical screening. Moreover, if you are young, you can get to choose from a wide range of policy options (with broader coverage).
Benefits of Obtaining Health Insurance For a Healthy & Young Individual
The health insurance premium is lower when you get a policy at a young age because healthy individuals are less likely to fall ill, requiring a lower need to raise claims.
Moreover, with new-age health insurance plans offering an option to lock the entry premium amount (till a certain age or till you make the first claim), you can make substantial financial savings by paying a fixed, lower premium amount for all the claim-free years.
Another major benefit of getting health insurance at an early age is that you can easily navigate the waiting periods for specific diseases which is usually of 2 years (and can even go up to 3 years).
Expand Financial Savings with Early Health Insurance
Most insurers offer a discount or bonus for the policy years in which you do not raise any claim. When you buy health insurance as a healthy individual, the probability is that you will be able to tap more claim-free years. More and continuous no-claim years mean more bonus or discounts on health insurance renewals.
Moreover, since the payment for health insurance premiums can be claimed under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, this provides young working professionals with taxation benefits, allowing them to expand their financial savings further.
Health Insurance at 25 or 30: Which Option Helps You Save More on Premiums?
Now, a question may arise in your mind: why should I pay even a lesser premium in the initial years when I can pay a small extra amount after 5 years and save for the earlier years?
Let us see this through an example. Say, if you start your health insurance at the age of 25 years with a premium amount of ₹5,000 annually for a sum insured of ₹10 lakh. And for the next 5 years, you do not make any claim. Since most health insurance plans offer a no-claim bonus of up to 100% of the sum insured, after 5 continuous claim-free years, your sum insured can become ₹20 lakh. But, if you were to purchase a health insurance policy of ₹20 lakh at the age of 30 years (which is 5 years after the age of 25), the annual premium will be approximately ₹12,000.
While in situation one, you can continue enjoying the benefits of a higher (even double) sum insured at just ₹5,000 annually, you will have to pay ₹12,000 for the same coverage after 5 years. Thus, buying health insurance even at the age of 25 is a wise decision. It acts as a necessary financial shield for medical emergencies, irrespective of age and fitness level.
Health Insurance Wellness Benefits for Young Adults
Most health insurance plans offer preventive health check-up benefits that allow you to get free medical tests at a fixed regular interval. It helps to detect health issues at an early stage and take corrective measures before the illness worsens. This not only leads to better health management but also helps in financial savings by preventing you from incurring huge medical bills.
Another health insurance benefit the youngsters can get is the discounts through wellness programs. Many health insurance plans offer wellness points on specific task completion for health-related activities. These points can be redeemed to gain policy renewal discounts or as other health insurance benefits (pharmacy discounts, gym memberships, etc.)
Bottom Line
Health insurance acts as a proactive step to secure your health as well as finances, even if you are young and healthy. With immense benefits to the insured, getting health insurance early, in fact, can help you gain more benefits. Your early years are not for letting time pass by and waiting for the illness to affect you, but for preventing them through adequate preparation.
