5 Points to Consider Before Purchasing a Second Health Insurance Plan in Indian Market

Buying a second health insurance plan is not a trivial task. You need to assess several things before buying an additional plan for a successful health insurance investment.

In this article, InsuranceDekho attempts to help potential insurer buyers choosing a second health insurance policy make an informed decision. Before going in for a second health insurance plan, do consider the existing conditions and future requirements. 

Some of these requirements are as follows:

* Your age and family members to be covered

* Number of family members to be covered under the plan

* Current income

* Entire family members’ medical record, past and current

* Coverage available under the current policy

Policy Coverage 

If your existing plan is falling short of delivering the promised offerings, then it’s time to look for another plan. Sometimes policies cannot meet a family’s medical needs due to some limitations, exclusions or capping features. You should ensure that the second policy acquires no sub-limits, co-payment clauses, or any other hidden limitations or exclusions. This will help avert any type of hurdle during hospitalization.

Top-up Plans

Besides going for a second health insurance policy, you can buy a top-up plan. A top-up plan provides coverage beyond the sum insured in the insurer’s existing plan. It enhances health insurance features and benefits.

A top-up plan can be bought on an existing plan or as a basic policy. You can opt for such plans either from the current insurer or from any other insurer. If you possess an insurance cover offered by your firm, you can pick a top-up policy on the same and can enhance his saving.

So, consider going in for a top-up plan before buying a new health insurance policy.

Critical Illness Riders

A critical illness rider is an optional add-on feature. It enables policyholders to avail a lump sum (Sum Assured) amount in case he/she is diagnosed with critical illnesses mentioned in the policy wording. Thus, it can protect you and your family from any financial crunch that may arise due to some unforeseen critical illnesses.

The best thing is that a critical illness rider is available at a lower premium rate than the premium paid for second health insurance. You can buy it to compliment his existing health insurance. It can protect you and your family from any financial crunch that may arise due to some unforeseen critical illnesses.

So, it is advisable to opt for a critical illness rider instead of going for another policy in certain cases.

Look for portability feature

The portability feature is an option to change health insurance policy from one insurance company to another without losing benefits the insurer has accumulated.

If planning on buying a second health insurance policy just because the services are unsatisfactory, it is advisable to change the insurer. This way you will not lose the benefits of the existing policy.

While availing the portability option, you should opt for a higher sum insured (higher than the sum insured of the current insurer) with extra offerings and benefits such as critical illness cover. So, portability can be an ideal option to upgrade your existing plan and avail more coverage benefits and better service than before. 

Lifelong Renewability

If you have a health insurance policy, which allows the renewability option up to a certain age only, then you must opt for a new plan with lifetime renewability feature. This is beneficial because once you reach the age beyond which you can’t renew your policy, a plan with the lifetime renewability allows you to renew your policy lifetime i.e. without any age restriction.

So, even if you forget to renew your plan before the due date, the grace period (the policy will be renewable provided you pay the premium within 15 days after the expiry date) can give you a chance to renew your plan post the due date without losing its benefits.

MYPINPAD Expands Global Presence Through Partnersip with Mswipe and Visa in Indian Market

Global secure personal authentication expert joins forces with Mswipe - India’s leading independent financial services platform for SMEs and merchants, and Visa – the world’s leader in digital payments

MYPINPAD, the global leader in secure personal authentication solutions today announces new strategic partnerships with Mswipe, India's largest independent mobile POS merchant acquirer and network provider, and the world’s leader in digital payments, Visa, to propel contactless payments in India.

The announcement follows MYPINPAD becoming the first, and currently only company in the world to achieve Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council (SSC) certification for its software only Contactless Payments on Commercial off-the-shelf (CPoC) solution. 

This is an especially important market for MYPINPAD, given that tap-to-pay or contactless card payments in the Indian market are in hypergrowth, led by Visa with over 30mn contactless cards issued.

Mswipe is at the forefront of driving tech innovations that enable micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs), and merchants to accept payments through cards, wallets, mobile payment apps and bank apps, contactless and QR payments.  With over 675,000 POS and 1.1 million QR merchants, it is the largest independent mobile POS acquirer and network provider in India.

The global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled the need for contactless transactions, with Visa recently announcing a commitment to support 10 million small businesses across Asia Pacific. The pledge is part of a global program that sees Visa supporting 50 million small businesses worldwide. As part of the commitment, the company is introducing a range of programs and solutions to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) drive efficiency and sales by accepting and making digital payments to meet increased demand for cashless payments – both online and in-store.  

CEO of MYPINPAD, Colin Greene, commented: “MYPINPAD makes it easy and affordable for merchants to become a part of digital acceptance and the payments ecosystem. Mswipe has spearheaded technology innovation in digital acceptance and payments for small and medium businesses in India. This important milestone, following our recent world-first PCI SSC CPoC certification, is another huge step for the industry in simplifying digital acceptance for the smallest of businesses to the larger retailers.”

CEO of Mswipe, Manish Patel adds: “What we plan to achieve alongside MYPINPAD will be incredibly significant for consumers, merchants and India in its entirety. The company’s technology will enable true democratisation of payments and accelerate the contactless revolution in India, which will result in huge socioeconomic benefits. We look forward to deploying the solution, and where the partnership will take us in the future.”

Shailesh Paul, Head, Merchant Sales & Acquiring and Cybersource, India & South Asia, Visa said:

“Consumer preference for tap to pay or contactless payments offers a transformational opportunity for our collaboration with MYPINPAD and Mswipe. By empowering small merchants to use their mobile phones to accept tap to pay digital payments and without the need to invest in a standalone terminal, this solution should truly help propel digital payments far and wide across India.”  

MYPINPAD’s solution is easily integrated into third party applications and delivered ‘As-a-Service’. It significantly reduces cost across the entire face-to-face payment ecosystem by meeting PCI security standards through software updates alone. This relieves pain-points such as the cost of traditional payment and POS hardware for the smallest retailers, while also serving larger retailers by significantly reducing maintenance, replacement costs of aging hardware-centric POS systems and ultimately providing stronger customer service with trusted and familiar devices.

About MYPINPAD:

MYPINPAD is the global leader in secure personal authentication solutions residing on commercially available smartphones and tablets. Our proprietary and globally patented technology secures and protects the input of sensitive information on touchscreens creating a trusted environment. MYPINPAD’s innovative solution set removes the reliance on specialised hardware for personal authentication; reduces cost and complexity, promotes rapid adoption and leverages the connected capabilities of smart devices. 

About Visa Inc.

Visa Inc. is the world’s leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company’s relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce.

Is oil price heading towards $25-30 a barrel?

Global investment banks Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, which had earlier this year forecast oil prices would surge to USD 200 per barrel level, now foresee it slipping to USD 25-30 level, while Indian analysts anticipate a strong resistance at 40 dollars.

After hitting a peak of over 147 dollars in July this year, crude oil prices have declined sharply and are currently trading near 45 dollars level.

Goldman Sachs' commodity research team in its latest research note has predicted that the oil price might slip to 30 dollars per barrel level in the next three months.

Meanwhile, the firm's energy equity research team, led by Arjun Murti, said in another report that it is cutting its forecast for 2009 to 45 dollars, from 80 dollars previously, due to global economic slowdown.

Murti, who is known as 'oil guru', had shot to fame for rightly predicting a spike in the price to USD 100 when it was trading at around USD 40 level. Later in May, Murti forecast a spike to 150-200 dollars level in the next 6-24 months.

In an interview with the stock market weekly Barron's in June, when oil price were hovering at about 135 dollars, Murti had said that oil prices might fall below 75 dollars, but after 20 years.

The latest report from Murti's team has, however, said that there was a possibility of prices falling below USD 40 level shortly.

Indian analysts, however, see a strong resistance to the oil prices slipping below USD 40 level and do not foresee any possibility of USD 25-30 level.

"Crude oil prices may not fall below 40 dollar a barrel. Rather it will consolidate at 40 dollar a barrel level," Kotak Commodoties Vice President Si Kannan said.

Source: Agencies