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Choosing the Right Health Insurance for Parents
When you have aging parents at your home, the scope of your responsibilities just widens. You begin to realize the importance of giving them love and care along with the quality time you once desired from them in your childhood. However, there is one more thing you should add to your list and that is buying the right health insurance plan. Health insurance for senior citizens gives you financial support at a time when you need it the most.
Aging is a natural process and so is the occurrence of illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, etc. Senior citizen health insurance plans in India are specifically designed to meet the needs of elderly citizens and mostly come at higher premiums. But, it is the financial cushion that you ultimately get which will not let your savings drain out.
To get the best out of this type of health insurance for your elderly parents, you must be clear about its various features and how they work. We discuss them below.
Co-Payment
A health insurance policy for senior citizens comes with some limitations. Firstly, you can avail of this policy if the age of your parent(s) is above 60 years. Secondly, in such policies, you would find a feature called co-payment. This means the policyholder is required to pay a certain percentage of the medical bills, as specified in the policy details.
For instance, there is a feature of 20% co-payment in the policy. Consider a case when an elderly parent of an individual is admitted to a hospital for treatment of illness and the total expenditure comes out to be Rs 60,000. Then the policyholder will be required to pay an amount of Rs 12,000 and the rest of the amount of Rs 48,000 will be borne by the insurer, subject to policy terms and conditons.
Renewability
As per the guidelines of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), senior citizens up to a maximum age of 65 years are eligible for the life-long renewability of their mediclaim insurance plans. So, there is no hassle of finding another insurance option as the same plan is available for a lifetime.
However, the renewability of the plan could be rejected on the grounds of misrepresentation of facts, false claims, etc. on the part of the policyholder. So, make sure you provide complete details of your parents’ medical history.
Read why Health insurance for Parents is essential
Waiting Period
If you are opting for senior citizen health insurance, you should check for the waiting period for making a claim. This is essential as mostly there is a waiting period of 2 years for certain specified diseases and 3 years for pre-existing illnesses.
Thus, you must disclose all the relevant details pertaining to your parents’ pre-existing conditions. In case, there is an accidental hospitalization, there is no waiting period and the insured can make a claim in such scenarios.
There could be a sub-limit for certain medical treatments, say for cataract surgery, subject to policy terms and conditions. Make sure to read the policy documents to understand all the features.
Medical Check-ups
Commonly, buying group mediclaim and health insurance plans online and does not require any pre-medical check-up but the policy is issued basis under tele-writing. When opting for medical insurance for your parents too, there is no pre-policy medical check-up required.
Moreover, there is a feature of annual health check-up for all insured persons in the policy which is highly beneficial as it helps in monitoring one’s health condition and ensuring timely diagnosis of ailments.
>>Click Here to Know 3 Best Financials Gifts for Parents
Add-on Benefits
Health insurance plans for the elderly covers a range of medical expenses such as pre and post hospitalization cover as well as the expenses incurred during the hospitalization period.
Apart from this, these plans bring a host of additional benefits such as coverage for ambulance costs, domiciliary hospitalization cover, organ donor expenses, etc. Also, it could happen your parents wish to avail a different treatment mode, say, homeopathic medication for their illness. If so, then it is better to find out if your insurer offers coverage for alternative treatment.
This way you can safeguard your expenditure and make the most of your health insurance for senior citizens.
Whether or not your elderly parents have a source of income in their post-retirement years, your goal as their child is definitely one of providing a secure future without any worry of meeting huge medical expenses.
Care Health Insurance offers you mediclaim insurance to suit the needs of your senior-citizen parents and help them focus on their health by letting go of financial stress.
>> Also read Things to Remember When Buying Health Insurance for Parents
Disclaimer: All plan features, benefits, coverage, and claims underwriting are subject to policy terms and conditions. Kindly refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.
