Got the COVID-19 jab? Health insurers may offer discounts on premiums

“At present, there are waiting periods for policyholders who contract COVID-19. This waiting period could be waived if the insurance buyer is vaccinated,” says RM Vishakha, MD and CEO, IndiaFirst Life Insurance. Health insurers introduced waiting periods as COVID-19 led to higher claims this financial year, and they want to keep their loss ratios under control. The waiting periods - before issuing the policy - range from three months for COVID-recovered insurance-buyers who did not need hospitalisation and six months for applicants who had to be hospitalised due to COVID-19. “COVID-19 is one of the leading causes of claims this year. So, once vaccinations pick up pace, at least COVID claims will reduce – that is a safe assumption to make,” she adds.

Life and health insurers have been exercising extreme caution while issuing policies to individuals who have recovered from COVID-19, the probable long-term effects of Covid-19 being the key reason.

Lower premiums for health insurance policies

Royal Sundaram’s Chief Product Officer (Health) Nikhil Apte, too, believes that COVID-19 will heavily influence underwriting in the days to come. Underwriting is the risk assessment process that insurers carry out, to decide whether the policy can be issued to you or not, and at what price.

For instance, if an insurance buyer with co-morbidities is not vaccinated, the risk is higher for insurance companies as chances of hospitalisation and treatment costs are likely to be higher. “But we could look at someone with co-morbidities who is vaccinated or has developed anti-bodies post-recovery, more favourably. For them, the premium loading could be lower,” he says. In other words, the incremental charge, which insurance companies levy over the base premium (the standard rate applicable to healthy, young individuals) to cover the risks of pre-existing diseases, could be lower.

He does not foresee long-term effects of COVID-19 casting a shadow on evaluation of applications from COVID-recovered patients. “Even if the recovered patients complain of lingering effects, those are unlikely to be severe enough to warrant hospitalisation. Generally, such health concerns can be managed through lung exercises, nutrition and so on. So, such cases do not pose continuous risk for us – these are more of outlier risks,” explains Apte. People are now more conscious about health and hygiene, which is a long-term positive, he adds.

Rewards, discounts in the offing for the vaccinated

With healthcare inflation likely to remain in the 19-20 percent zone even in financial year 2021-22, insurers could come out with mechanisms to underwrite more healthy lives and limit their claim outgo. “Whether you are vaccinated or not could be the first question that insurers are likely to pose. Depending on this, even the price points will be affected. In fact, some have already started work on this front,” says Aatur Thakkar, Director, Alliance Insurance Brokers.

Currently, several insurers already offer concessions or reward points to policyholders who demonstrate improvement in their health parameters or carry out defined fitness activities.  

These typically take the shape of vouchers that could be redeemed to meet, say, diagnostic test expenses or cash equivalents that can be used to fund renewal premiums. “Even now, some insurers offer health discounts at the end of the policy period. Then, there are no-claim bonuses that enhance the sum insured at no extra premium. We see something similar being designed for those who are vaccinated against COVID-19,” adds Thakkar.

However, not all insurers foresee COVID-19 making a significant, long-term impact on underwriting. “Whether you took the jab or not will not be a criterion. Individual insurers will take calls on issuing policies to COVID-recovered patients with lingering symptoms and, in general, there could be a 15-day waiting period post policy issuance. But, it is too early to say whether underwriting approaches will change due to vaccinations,” says a senior actuary at a private general insurance company.