Important Changes to Make in Your Health Insurance Plan After Marriage
Marriage is a huge step to take in any person’s life. And if you have made this wonderful decision and are about to get married or have just been married, one of the important things to consider is the financial security of yourself and your new spouse!
Since you plan to spend a lifetime together, it’s essential that both of you have financial protection in case of health-related issues. Thus, it is important to check and update your health insurance plan post-marriage, so that you and your new family have the best coverage possible.
7 Changes to Make in Your Health Insurance After Marriage
1. Adding Your Spouse to an Existing Policy
If you already have a health insurance plan, and both you and your new spouse are happy with its coverage, you can add them to this policy. This will then become a family health insurance plan.
Whoever has the policy can start this process by submitting the required documents (such as the marriage certificate and KYC documents for the new member, including identity proof, age proof, and photographs) and filling in the required form.
The changes will then come into effect at the time of renewal, and the premium will be adjusted for the new member being added.
2. Understanding Your New Healthcare Needs
Whether you get married early in life or later, it’s likely that your current health insurance doesn’t reflect the state of your health now. Apart from gaining a new family to look after, you might have had some big lifestyle changes that require more comprehensive coverage.
So, this is also a good time for both you and your spouse to check your health condition and look for a suitable health insurance cover based on that.
3. The Type of Cover You Already Have
Before jumping into buying a new health insurance plan, look at what you and your new spouse already have. Do you have only an employers’ group insurance coverage? Or do you have individual health covers as well? Or have you been depending on your parents’ health covers as a dependent?
Being aware of what you currently have will help you and your spouse decide whether or not you want to buy a new health insurance policy, or whether you need to increase your cover.
4. Getting a Family Health Insurance Plan
Another big decision you must make is whether you wish to switch to a family floater health insurance plan. Under a family floater health plan, all your family members are covered under one plan and share the same sum insured. This includes you, your spouse, your parents, and up to four children.
This might be a good option for younger couples, as it keeps the premium low while it covers many people. However, it also means that there may not be enough of the sum insured for a growing family. So, if you already have kids, or you also wish to insure your parents or both of you are a bit older and require more coverage, it may be better to opt for an individual family health insurance plan, where every family member gets an individual sum insured.
5. Opting for a Maternity Cover
For a newly married couple who is planning to grow their family in the future, it’s important that they get a maternity add-on cover at the earliest. This is because maternity covers usually come with a waiting period that can be up to 4 years.
However, on the other hand, if you and your new spouse have decided not to have children, now is the time to be sure of that decision, as if you change your mind you will have to deal with a long waiting period during which any maternity claims will not get settled.
6. Having More Add-on Covers
Marriage brings with it a lot of changes, and that might mean that as you and your spouse grow together you might need more protection. So now is the time to look at health insurance add-ons that you can add to your policy and personalize it as needed.
Apart from a maternity cover, other important add-ons to consider are a critical illness cover, personal accident cover, or a top-up cover. It is important to make the decision early, as some of these covers may come with waiting periods
7. Choose the Right Health Insurance Provider
You may have been with your current insurance provider for a while, but if you’re not happy with your current insurer, or you find a better family-based plan out there, it may be time to make a change. You can also choose to upgrade your existing plan for more coverage.
In either case, compare different policies and check their coverage, premiums, sum insured, sub-limits, co-payment clauses, and waiting periods to ensure that you find the right health insurer customized for you and your partner.
Conclusion
Marriage is a big change in your life, and it’s also a time to make a number of other changes. While you might move to a new city, or a new house, it’s also important to ensure that you and your partner are financially secure so that you can make the most of your new life together. Thus, you must ensure that both of you, and your families, are covered with the best possible health insurance policy.
Frequently asked questions
When should you change your insurance after marriage?
If you wish to add yourself or your spouse to an existing corporate or family health plan, you can do so at any time. However, if you’re upgrading to a new family health insurance after marriage, you will need to do so at the time of renewal.
What documents are required post-marriage to get added to your spouse’s health insurance?
When you add your spouse to an existing policy, whether it’s corporate or private, you will need to submit a few documents including your marriage certificate plus KYC documents such as identity proofs, age proofs, and a recent photograph.
Is it required to get a new family health insurance after you're married?
No, it’s not required to change your health insurance after you’re married. Both you and your spouse can continue using any individual or corporate policies you were using before. However, remember that a single family plan is much easier to manage than multiple individual plans.
Will the health insurance premium be more expensive if you're married?
It is likely that your health insurance premiums will increase slightly when you cover both yourself and your spouse under one policy, as you are covering the risks of two (or more) people. This will also depend on what plan you opt for, as a family plan will have a lower premium than two individual plans. Additionally, younger married couples will end up paying a lower premium than older newlyweds.
How can you add your spouse to your existing health insurance?
Whoever has the current policy must inform their insurer of the change and initiate the process by filling any required forms, and submitting KYC documents and a marriage certificate. The change will come into effect in the next policy renewal, at which time you will also be informed of any change in the premium.