The common reasons that force most people to switch health insurance providers, let’s discuss the pros and cons of health insurance portability.
Pros:
1.There is a customization option that comes with portability through which you can easily modify the policy as per your requirements and lifestyle.
2.The existing amount will be clubbed with no claim bonus to calculate a new sum insured.
3.All the benefits of your existing plan will remain in force, even after you opt for portability.
4.Because of the high competition, insurance companies provide existing benefits at lower premiums.
Cons:
1.You can opt for portability only when the renewal date is approaching.
2.You can choose only similar kinds of products.
3.Usually, additional benefits can result in higher premiums.
4.If you want to move from group plans to individual plans, then you might have to lose some advantages that you enjoy with your existing plans.
Health Insurance Portability Rules
Permitted Policy Types
An insured can port only similar policies. For example, if a policyholder is entitled to a reimbursement policy, then he can only port to another reimbursement policy or from one top-up plan to another. However, a family or an individual health plan can also be ported into a similar policy.
Permitted Company Type
A policyholder can port his/her insurance plan from any general or specialized insurance company to the other.
Permitted Renewal
Health Insurance Portability is allowed only at the time of renewal. Also, it is important to renew your health plan on time without any breaks to take advantage of the same.
Permitted Intimation
Those who wish to port their health insurance first need to inform the existing insurance company in writing, which should be provided 45 days before the renewal date of the current insurance policy.
Sum Insured
Policyholders are allowed to ask for an increase in the minimum sum insured at the time of portability. However, its approval depends upon the insurance company.
Acknowledgment
Within three days of the application, the company will inform you regarding your portability request.
Premiums And Bonuses
As per the insurer’s specific underwriting norms, they are free to levy premiums. Therefore, the premiums may vary. However, those who come under the high-risk category may have to pay a higher premium on porting.
Grace Period
In case the application of porting is under-process, then the applicants are eligible for a grace period of 30 days. During this time, the insured has to pay the premium on a pro-rata basis to avail of this feature. As per the IRDA guidelines, the insured cannot be forced to pay the premium for the whole year.
Porting Charges
There are no charges for Health insurance portability.
As we said at the start, most people think insurance is an unnecessary expense. The reason is that we feel confident about our future and our ability to tackle unseen circumstances.
But there is a huge difference between our perceived ability and reality. For instance, a few years of savings can vanish in case of a medical emergency.
1. Insurance ensures the family’s financial stability
No matter how much you have managed to save or what your monthly income is, an unexpected event can burn a huge hole in your pocket or can simply jeopardize your family’s financial future.
For example, if you do not have adequate life insurance, your family might have to go through financial hardship if you were to meet with an untimely death.
Though no amount of money can replace the loss of loved ones, having life insurance would save them from going through financial hardship.
Meanwhile, if you or your family do not have enough health insurance, then huge medical bills during any treatment can completely shake your finances.
So you must cover yourself, your family with an adequate amount of insurance.
2. Insurance brings peace of mind
The premium you pay to the insurance company is the price that guarantees that the insurance company will cover the damage in case of an unforeseen event.
And, that guarantee that your risk is covered brings peace of mind.
For example, let’s suppose you die an untimely death at a time when you still have several milestones to achieve like children’s education, their marriage, a retirement corpus for your spouse, etc.
Also, there is debt as a housing loan. Your untimely demise can put your family in a hand-to-mouth situation.
But, if you would have bought term insurance considering all these factors, your family would be able to sail through the hard times.
3. Insurance reduces stress during difficult times
No matter how hard you try to make your life better, an unforeseen event can completely turn things upside down, leaving you physically, emotionally, and financially strained.
Having adequate insurance helps in the sense that at least you don’t have to think about money during such a hard time, and can focus on recovery.
For example, suppose you or someone in your family had a heart attack and needs immediate hospitalization. Such treatments at good hospitals can cost lakhs.
So having health insurance in this case, saves you the worries and stress of arranging money.
With insurance in place, any financial stress will be taken care of, and you can focus on your recovery.
Conclusion:
Having insurance – life, health, and liability – is an essential part of financial planning. It can save you from financial hardship in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
However, the decision to buy insurance should be determined by three factors – requirement, the benefits you get from the policy, and your ability to pay the premium.
How does health insurance act as your rescuer during the covid-19 outbreak? India has one of the lowest healthcare penetrations in the world, according to the Central Government data.
The same statistics also report that more than half of all healthcare-related expenses in India are borne out-of-pocket which is much lower than the global average.
In a time like this, the importance of having adequate healthcare coverage cannot be stressed enough.
Why Do We Need An Insurance Cover For Covid-19?
During this pandemic, everyone is at increased risk and since the disease is also new to the world, the treatment is still being developed and optimized.
Health insurance during this time is very important and the following points will stress why it is important.
1. ICU Requirement is High in Covid Treatment: The challenge with Covid-19 treatment is that quite a-several hospitalized cases require intensive care treatment and ventilator support, eventually.
With the current caseload in India, both of these are scarce and expensive which drives the cost of treatment upwards very quickly.
Cases of hospitalization charges running upwards of Rs. 10 lakhs in tier 1 and tier 2 cities are not uncommon. Without Mediclaim, this is a huge bill for the average Indian citizen.
2. Income Benefit: Some healthcare plans have income benefits that can help families coping with financial difficulties arising out of unemployment (due to hospitalization) triggered by this pandemic.
3. Expensive Protective Gear: Even wherever hospitalization doesn’t require intensive care, the cost of general treatment is high due to the special protective gear required for Covid-19.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits including gloves, masks, and other supplies to protect healthcare workers come at a cost, and the final bill amount could still end up in a few lakh rupees due to this.
4. Emergency Coverage: Often there is a requirement for immediate hospitalization due to oxygen levels falling abruptly.
This is more of a concern in rural and semi-urban areas where regular transport at odd hours might be difficult.
During such times, ambulance cover provided in a healthcare plan can be a savior.
Conclusion
Healthcare in normal times is imperative, during a pandemic it is indispensable. According to Insurance Industry insiders, the rate of healthcare enrolment in India has gone up sharply post the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hopefully, people have already begun to realize the importance of having adequate coverage for tough times.
The treatment costs of illnesses have been rising, therefore the need to have health insurance cannot be understated.
Having Health Insurance is not mandatory from the government of India but ignoring it could prove costly. Various medical policies offer different features and benefits.
Health insurance policies are of two types –
1. Individual Plan
2. Family Floater Plan
In an individual plan only, you are covered and the sum assured is available only on your hospitalization, whereas in the Family Floater plan other members of the family can be covered.
The cover is available on hospitalization of any of the members who are covered under the policy.
You take a health insurance plan with a clear intent to protect your capital from getting eroded.
Hospitalization expenses can cause a serious dent in your savings which could include the cost of medicines, doctors and nursing fees, and prescription costs. There are health insurance companies that offer daily hospitalization cash expenses.
Pre and Post Hospitalization Expenses
While all insurance companies cover hospitalization expenses, still it is suggested that you check if the policy you intend to buy covers pre and post-hospitalization expenses.
These costs could cost you a lot of money depending on the type of illness and treatment required.
List of diseases Covered
The policy that you have could have a feature or enhancement to the current benefits which could be a result of insurance companies subscribed plan, regulatory mandate, or it can also be because the insurance company has decided to extend these benefits as you have not claimed for a long time.
Few medical conditions which are covered can be extended, so one needs to be in communication with the health insurance company.
Top-Up
There are instances like getting a promotion or a salary hike, birth of a child where you might feel that the current health insurance coverage might not be sufficient and you need to enhance your cover. Getting a new health insurance plan can be a new process.
This is where the top-up option comes in handy. It allows getting an extra sum assured on top of the existing cover. Unlike a new plan, you don’t have to go for medical screenings for buying a top-up.
Income Tax Benefit
Payments made towards Health Insurance qualify for deduction under section 80 (D) of the Indian Income Tax Act.
If you buy health insurance for yourself or your family then you get a tax deduction of up to Rs 25, 000 and if also take a policy for your parents who are senior citizens then the tax benefits available increases up to Rs 50, 000.
Additional Benefits
You can also opt for additional benefits like the cover for ambulance charges, day-care procedures, health check-ups, and vaccination charges.
So in this blog, I will talk about what you should do to extract the maximum value from your policy during claims and come out of the process truly satisfied
One of the biggest reasons for dissatisfaction with claims is a lack of awareness of the policy terms and conditions.
It can’t be stressed enough that every policyholder should read one’s policy document as soon as you receive it and if any terms and conditions are not clear, you should call us up at your insurer to understand more about it.
1. Limits on certain procedures
Your policy will have limits of certain procedures like the maximum price of the room that you can avail of.
Now you might want to go for a higher-priced room and you’ll assume that you can simply pay the difference between the actual rent of the room and the allowable limit. Please don’t do that.
Contact your insurance company before you do something like this. Insurers often treat room up-gradation as a partially payable claim. In other words, never decide to alter the terms of your insurance contract unilaterally.
2. The minimum hospitalization required is 24 hours
Most health insurance policies require the patient to be admitted for a minimum of 24 hours or more to avail of the policy benefits.
This is a firm rule but excludes a few day-care procedures which will be clearly mentioned in your policy document. So if you were to go to your hospital for a tetanus shot, for example – you won’t be able to file a claim on that basis.
3. Waiting period on certain diseases
The third area you need to pay attention to is your waiting period for certain diseases. A waiting period is a sort of a hibernation period during which any claims made will not be admissible
A good number of consumers are not aware that claims for certain conditions are inadmissible for up to two years.
While these are a handful of conditions but it includes popular ones like tonsils, hernia, cataract, etc. A list of these medical conditions will be available in your policy wordings.
And finally, there is a waiting period on pre-existing conditions where there is a wait of 3 -4 years.
This is another clause that several policyholders are not aware of because they did not read the policy document and leads to dissatisfaction when they apply for claims within the waiting period for pre-existing ailments.
A common problem related to this is that consumers don’t state their pre-existing condition while taking the policy. This generally happens under two circumstances.
One, when consumers allow agents to fill the proposal form on their behalf. Two, when they make the application process very lightly and leave these details accidentally or on purpose.
This is a very difficult situation for the policyholder and the insurer. But because every insurance contract was agreed upon based on good faith, there is every probability a claim will not be admissible in case the declaration made by the policyholder is false or partial.
4. Examine the plan’s co-payments, sub-limits, and exclusions
The fourth area and the last of the key clauses that have a major impact on the claims are limiting conditions like co-payments, sub-limits, and exclusions.
Co-payments:
Co-payments are where you will have to pay part of the claim and the insurer will pay part of the claim.
If you have ever made a car insurance claim without having zero depreciation on your car insurance policy, you would have noticed that you had to pay like 30-35 percent of the total bill to the workshop and the insurance company paid the rest.
Similarly, co-payment may be triggered in your health insurance contract in some situations which is why you should read the policy document carefully once you receive it.
Sub-limits:
The same is true for sub-limits which by definition mean that the insurance contract has a capping on how much is payable for a particular illness.
Sub-limits are used for procedures like cataract, total knee cap replacement, and kidney dialysis. These too will be in your policy document and will go something like Rs 20,000 per eye for cataract removal.
Exclusions:
And finally, the exclusions, which becomes the cause of a lot of hardship. Most health insurance policies don’t cover maternity and childbirth, yet a huge number of claims are lodged toward these due to a lack of awareness of policy exclusions.
Other exclusions in the policy include participation in adventurous activities, abuse of intoxicants like alcohol, mental disorder-related ailments, etc.
Some smaller payments are generally not included. Again, most policyholders assume that these expenses are claimable but that is not the case.
Some expenses which are not payable by health insurance include registration and discharge charges, cost of hearing aid, any toiletries, donor screening charges, etc.
Understanding co-payments, sub-limits, and exclusions are a must to ensure you are claiming for the right procedures as contracted under your health insurance contract.
The secret to a happy claims experience is to have a clear understanding of what is claimable and what is not under the terms of your policy – most of which are available in the policy wordings. This includes inclusions, exclusion, waiting period, sub-limits, etc.
Conclusion
If you are thorough in your research, you wouldn’t have to worry about claim rejection. And when you know what is in your policy, then it also gives you the necessary knowledge to fight for any unjust calls made by the insurer’s claims team.
Several reasons why you should start investing and also get insurance at a young age. But, at the time when we start our career, with a little income and too many expenses, the dilemma that we often face is should we invest or insure first?
Through this blog, I will try to help you get over this dilemma, i.e. whether to invest or insure first.
Before I get it into explaining whether to invest or insure first, it is important to understand why it is important to start investing and also buy insurance (health and life) early in life.
2 reasons why you should start investing early
Starting your investments early improves your spending habits
At the time when we start earning, our income is quite low. And if we want to save from that little amount of salary that we get, then we have to put restrictions on our spending by creating a budget. Over the years this simple practice becomes a habit, eventually improving our spending habits.
To adopt the simple habit of saving/investing, put away the part of the salary at the start of the month. And, then make a monthly budget with the rest of the money you have in hand.
Say you earn Rs 30,000 monthly and out of that you want to save Rs 10,000 every month. So as soon as you get your salary, put Rs 10,000 away, and then create a monthly budget with the rest Rs 20,000.
You enjoy the benefit of compounding For starting your investments early, you stay invested for longer, which automatically increases the benefit of compounding. Let’s understand this with 2 simple examples.
Say you want to save Rs 5 crore for your retirement. Now, with that goal in mind, you start investing in an equity mutual fund from the age of 22. For this, you will have to keep investing Rs 5,500 for the next 38 years, and your total investments would be Rs 25 lakh.
In the second case, the goal remains the same but you start investing in the goal much later, let’s say at 45. For this, you would need to invest Rs 1 lakh every month for the next 15 years and your total investment amount would be Rs 1.8 crore.
This is how compounding works in favor of money over the years.
After looking at the reasons why one should start investing early, let’s understand why it is equally important to get insurance at a young age.
Here as we speak about insurance, we mean both health and life insurance. Speaking about health insurance, no matter what your age is you should always have health insurance.
Sickness or some health emergencies can come at any time and if you do not have health insurance, medical expenses can burn a huge hole in your pocket. So you should never delay the process of getting health insurance.
However, we often delay the process of buying a term life reason for very simple but foolish reasons. The common notions are since we are young and healthy or at this stage, as the responsibilities are less, we do not need term life insurance. However, contrary to the popular belief, buying term insurance early on is always favorable.
2 reasons why you should buy term life insurance early
The premium amount is low The biggest advantage of buying term life insurance early on is the premium amount that you pay is much less as compared to what you would pay if you buy it at a later stage in life.
For example, say you want to buy a policy of Rs 1 crore that would give you coverage till 75 years. If you buy it at 25, the premium amount would be Rs 8,000 annually. At 30, it would be Rs 10,000. And at 45, the premium for the same policy would be Rs 30,000.
Your family gets covered early on The sooner you buy the term insurance, the sooner your family gets covered. Even if you are not married, your parents might be dependent on you or you might have a loan (vehicle loan, student loan),
In case you die early then your family will have to bear that burden. Having term insurance ensures your family will not have to go through financial hardship in case something happens to you
So finally, whether to invest or insure first? So, this is typically a chicken and egg situation – who came first. To put more aptly, here it would be which one to do first, buy insurance, or start investing? Now, the best thing to do is to do both things simultaneously.
For example, let’s suppose Rajeev is a 25-years-old, and given his monthly income of Rs 40,000, he can take out Rs 10,000 each month, i.e. Rs 1.2 lakh annually, for savings/investments/insurance. So what should he do?
Here is how you can allot the money towards insurance and investments
Health insurance: It is a good practice to have at least 6 times your monthly salary as your health insurance coverage. By that logic, since Rajeev’s monthly income is Rs 40,000, his health coverage should be between Rs 2.4 to Rs 2.5 lakh. At the age of 25, the yearly premium amount for Rs 2.5 lakh health insurance would be about Rs 5,000.
Term life insurance: Since Rajeev doesn’t have a lot of liabilities, a term cover of Rs. 1 crore would be enough. Say the term life insurance cover that you need at this stage is Rs 50 lakh. The premium for a Rs 1 crore term policy would be around Rs 8,000 annually.
Investments: The rest of the Rs 1.1 lakh you can invest in Mutual Funds. Since Rajeev is young, he can take risks, and therefore you should invest in equity mutual funds. He can consider large-cap mutual funds or multi-cap funds and start a monthly SIP in these funds.
Now, as and when the income increases, he should also increase your investment amount. Rajeev should also review his health and term cover at regular intervals to ensure the cover is sufficient.
As the nation grapples with the devastating impact of COVID 19 and financial markets gyrate to the tune of incoming news flows, a number of valuable financial lessons come to the fore. Here are five important ones.
Adequate Health Insurance is a must
Many of us rely on our company-provided Mediclaim policies to fund our healthcare emergencies. What we fail to account for, though, is the fact that an unexpected job loss could leave our families without health insurance protection almost overnight.
Also, worth considering is the fact that COVID 19 treatment costs have run into several lakhs for many affected patients.
The crisis has certainly taught us the importance of having an optimal quantum of high-quality health insurance coverage in place, notwithstanding your company provided Mediclaim.
Timing the market is futile
When the NIFTY sank to sub-8000 levels in March and sentiment was at its lowest point, doomsday predictions were a dime a dozen. Investors made a collective beeline for the redemption button and exited equities.
However, markets have since staged a smart recovery, and are showing definitive signs of strength. The takeaway here is the well-worn fact that market timing is impossible, and so should therefore not be attempted.
The only way to create long term wealth from financial markets is to follow a contrarian approach by accumulating equities when fear is at its highest point and to sit through the rough rides thereafter.
An Emergency Fund is vital
If there’s one Financial lesson that the COVID-19 crisis has taught us, it’s the critical importance of building a savings pool that can be used to ride out a prolonged contingency.
An emergency fund is the most basic pillar of sound financial health. Make sure you’re putting away money consistently into a financial instrument that is low risk in nature and gives you the comfort of easy and immediate access to capital.
Follow the thumb rule of having 6 to 12 months of fixed monthly expenses stashed away at all times – you never know when you might need it, as emergencies don’t come announced.
Discipline makes a world of difference
The most effective antidote to the host of behavioral fallacies that plague our day to day investment decisions is to follow a disciplined approach.
In fact, this argument carries even more weight during volatile times such as these. Investing via SIP’s (Systematic Investment Plans) without giving a second thought to market levels or the unending stream of good and bad news flows that inundate our minds on a daily basis, can prove extremely effective.
In the long run, such automatic averaging would go a long way in ensuring fantastic portfolio returns. Stay disciplined.
Unadvised Investing can be injurious to your portfolio!
Needless to say, unadvised investors who went down the direct plan route in a hapless bid to save on investment costs have had a harrowing time of late.
Without the valuable support of a “coach” in the form of a qualified Financial Advisor, many of them have taken regrettable investment decisions in the past couple of months that will have long-term ramifications on their future wealth creation.
For best results, seek the support of an experienced and proven Financial Advisor who will be acting in your interest at all times. COVID or no COVID, flying solo can prove dangerous to your Financial Health!
Choosing the correct health insurance plan is an important decision for all of us. Not only is health a true wealth, it gives a sense of security and peace of mind for both you and your family.
It always assures us of the best chance to get well, just in case something goes wrong. Here are 13 points to consider before buying health insurance.
Buy health insurance early
The earlier you buy, the better for you because as you grow older you are likely to become less insurable. Some of the benefits that I see while buying health insurance at an early age are as follows:
No medical checkups.
Lower chances of rejection for buying a health insurance plan.
Coverage for all diseases.
Hassle-free policy renewal.
Sum assured
In simple terms, the sum assured is the maximum amount you get as coverage in a policy year. It’s the basis of all your claims.
Before you select your sum assured, consider the rising costs of hospitalization and treatment.
It’s better to go for a higher cover, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be so high that you have to go out of your way to pay the premium.
Co-pay and sub-limits
Insurance companies have introduced co-pay and sub-limits to prevent hospitals from billing them unreasonable room rents. In co-pay policies, you have to pay part of the expenses, regardless of the sum insured.
For instance, if there’s a 10% co-pay in a policy, the insurer will pay 90% of the expenses while you have to bear the balance. Besides, many treatments are capped by insurers to reduce hospital claims.
The system is called sub-limits. Choose a policy with fewer sub-limits. Many insurance companies have no capping on the room rent. Ideally, select a plan which has no co-payment or sub-limits.
Critical illness
Most comprehensive healthcare policies cover critical illness. It’s not required to go for another policy. It’s better to opt for a comprehensive plan and then top up insurance which doesn’t cost much. These two would be enough for most of the issues.
Family Floater
It’s always better to invest in a single plan which takes care of your family members including you, such as the Family Floater instead of taking the separate plans for each of the family members as the premium for multiple policies will be higher than the premium for a single policy.
Also, In Family Floater the full coverage, if required, can be utilized by a single member of the family.
Restore benefit
This feature will allow you to reinstate the basic sum assured, in case you have already exhausted the sum assured and the multiplier benefit within the policy year.
But market experts say that the benefit is unavailable on the same illness where the limit has been already exhausted.
No claims bonus
Insurance companies generally provide a no claims bonus to a customer if there are no claims against the policy in the preceding year.
Before buying a plan, check out the quantum of no claims bonus, which often ranges from 5% to as high as 100% of the Basic Sum Insured.
A high no claims bonus can cover you against medical inflation and you won’t have to increase your coverage every year.
Pre-existing, waiting period and exclusions
Pre-existing diseases are the ones you have at the time of buying the policy and most insurers have a waiting period for such ailments.
If you have one, your insurance company may not give you a cover against it while subscribing to the healthcare policy.
The pre-existing disease, depending upon the insurer, usually gets covered after at least a couple of years. Many insurers take four years in this regard. It’s also important to check the list of exclusions.
For instance, if you have diabetes at the time of taking the policy, kidney ailments may be excluded from the list if it’s caused due to diabetes. Don’t hide any pre-existing health issues when you buy a policy. It may greatly reduce your claims in case of hospitalization.
Annual free check-up
Many insurance companies provide a free health check-up to the subscriber. But it always comes at a price that is embedded in the premium. You may go for it only if you are keen to avail of the facility every year.
It’s also important to check whether a healthcare policy, which is renewed every year, covers you for the entire life because life expectancy is increasing, courtesy; improvement in medical technology.
While the majority of the popular policies give whole life coverage, there are a few that cover only till 75-80 years.
Maternity and daycare
Many recent policies now extend cover against day-care procedures in hospitals that don’t require an overnight stay.
Before buying such a policy, check out the number of procedures covered in the plan that doesn’t require overnight hospitalization. Besides, if you are planning a baby, ensure that the policy covers maternity expenses.
Most insurance companies don’t consider maternity as a medical emergency and if you have no plans for a baby, you shouldn’t look for it because the price is embedded in the premium.
Top-up plans
Rising medical costs call for large covers. However, not all can afford high premiums. This is where a top-up plan comes useful.
In a standard plan, your insurer pays up to the sum assured. But top-up plans don’t pay until your bill breaches a particular limit.
Air ambulance
This feature covers the expense for Air Ambulance transportation for emergency life-threatening health conditions which require immediate ambulance transportation to hospitals in India & abroad.
Many insurances cover air ambulance up to 10% of the sum assured while some offer up to 5 lacs with a maximum of 2.5 lakh per hospitalization.
Global coverage
Cover your medical expenses related to inpatient & daycare hospitalization incurred outside India, provided that the diagnosis is made in India. Few companies offer global cover for critical illness only whereas few offers for any planned medications.
It’s quite important to select the right coverage or else you will increase your premium. Remember a 4 inches pizza with more toppings will not help a family of 4. You need an 8 inches pizza either with more topping or less.
Now that you are aware of things that you need to keep in mind while buying health insurance, why wait? Call our success planners to get quotes from top insurers. You can easily compare plans and buy.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the sky-high costs of treatment are huge stress on most of the business. Group Health Insurance for your employees can be a Saviour.
3 Amazing Advantages to the Employer
Motivated Employees: In today’s scenario, when Covid-19 treatment reached a great height, group health insurance is considered as an added benefit. By ensuring against higher hospitalization costs, employers can motivate their employees.
Helps in Retention of Employees: These days more and more companies have become employee-centric and group health insurance has become one of the most preferred benefits to attract and retain talented employees. The group policies also cover the family members of the employees, making the employees feel more attached to the organization.
Low Cost: Group health insurance policies can be bought at low cost to the employee, as it is like buying in bulk, gives discounts.
Corona Kavach policy is an indemnity plan where the hospital bill gets reimbursed. The coverage as well as the terms and conditions of the policy remain identical across companies.
Sum Insured of Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakhs, subject to age limits of one day to 65 years. The policy period can be three and a half months, six and a half months, or nine and a half months.
