Archive / Investment Adviser (Level 2) / Non-Life Insurance Products
nism-series-xb-health-insurance-portability-foreign-to-indian-insurer[ INVESTMENT ADVISER (LEVEL 2) ]
Why cannot Mr. & Mrs. Gupta 'port' their US employer-sponsored group health insurance policy directly to an Indian standalone retail health insurance company upon returning to India?
[ A ]Because US health insurance policies are legally void in Asia
[ B ]Because Indian hospitals do not accept patients with foreign insurance history
[ C ]Because the Ministry of Health bans health insurance for returning NRIs
[ D ]Because IRDAI portability regulations apply strictly among registered Indian insurance companies; foreign offshore policies cannot be ported to Indian insurers, meaning standard 3-4 year pre-existing waiting periods start afresh on new Indian policies[ CORRECT ]
Takeaway
IRDAI portability rules apply only among registered Indian insurers, so a foreign policy cannot be ported and the Guptas must serve fresh waiting periods on a new Indian policy, so option D is correct.
Derivation
Health insurance 'portability' under IRDAI regulations is specifically a mechanism allowing an existing policyholder to switch between domestic Indian insurers without losing accumulated benefits such as waiting-period credit. It has no cross-border equivalent — a foreign, offshore policy sits entirely outside the Indian regulatory portability framework, so there is no mechanism to carry its history over. Consequently, the Guptas must purchase a fresh Indian policy and serve the standard 3-4 year pre-existing-condition waiting periods again from scratch. This tests whether candidates understand portability as a narrowly-scoped domestic regulatory right, not a general concept applicable to any prior coverage.
Why the others fail
A — Because US health insurance policies are legally void in Asia
US policies remain contractually valid under their own terms; the barrier is that IRDAI portability rules simply have no cross-border mechanism, not that foreign policies are void.
B — Because Indian hospitals do not accept patients with foreign insurance history
Indian private hospitals treat patients regardless of their prior insurance history in another country; this is not the reason porting is unavailable.
C — Because the Ministry of Health bans health insurance for returning NRIs
Returning NRIs are fully eligible and in fact encouraged to purchase Indian health insurance; there is no Ministry of Health ban involved.
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