After dedicating the first half of their life to careers and family, your parents deserve a golden time to relish their second half. Your parent’s purpose in the second half of their life should be to pursue a relaxed and worry-free daily routine doing enjoyable activities they always wanted! And in times of medical emergency, it should be your responsibility that they get a nurturing and comforting experience without worrying about the expenses. To ensure this comfort for your ageing parents, a financial helmet; or a mediclaim for senior citizens can be handy.
Although your parents must have taken great care of your safety throughout their lives, they are less likely to have a health insurance policy for themselves.
The good news is, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has permitted insurance companies to issue new mediclaim for senior citizens up to an entry age of 65 years. Thus, if you haven’t yet secured your ageing parents with an appropriate health insurance plan, now is the right time to take the necessary steps.
Keep reading to decode the factors to consider when buying a mediclaim for senior citizens.
Factors to Consider while Choosing Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan
Coverage
Ideally, the higher coverage you choose, the higher your premium gets. However, some of the best health insurance companies, such as Care health insurance, cover more than just the basic coverages, such as hospitalisation and pre-and post-hospitalisation expenses. The company covers expenses such as consumable allowance, companion allowance, domiciliary hospitalisation, dialysis coverage, etc.
While buying a mediclaim for senior citizens, always choose a plan that provides maximum coverage to claim the most out of your sum insured.
Flexibility
Some health insurance companies may allow you to recharge your mediclaim for senior citizens up to 100% of the original sum insured once the amount gets exhausted. They may also offer you benefits such as a policy for 1-3 years.
Always ask for such benefits from your prospective health insurer to ensure flexibility in the plan you buy for your ageing parents.
Co-Payments
The feature of Co-payment is a common benefit that the mediclaim policy for senior citizens comprises. If your health insurance policy provides you with the co-payment benefit, then it means a certain portion of your medical expenses shall be spent by you while the remaining part of your expenses will be taken care of by your insurer. This way, you are free of the complete expenses and can save your sum insured for future emergencies.
Maximum Age to Renew
The maximum age for a policy renewal varies from one insurer to another. However, health insurance companies such as Care Health Insurance offer a ‘Lifelong renewal’ feature.
Thus, look for lifelong renewal features while buying a mediclaim for senior citizens to avoid buying a new policy again and again.
Pre-existing Conditions and Waiting Periods
Most health insurance companies have a clause of a waiting period before they cover any pre-existing diseases; some may not even cover certain pre-existing diseases. Talking in your favour, the lesser the waiting period, the better, and if your elderly do have a pre-existing condition, as defined in the policy, they should ideally be covered, at least eventually.
Simple Claim Process
Whether you are buying a standalone plan for yourself or your parents, ensure that the claiming procedure of your insurance company is easier so that you do not have to waste a lot of time following up on a claim and you can focus on the main thing that is the recovery of your parents.
Procedures for Daycare
The modernisation of medicine has led to conventional treatments that no longer necessitate admission for more than 24 hours. However, only a few health insurance companies benefit from daycare procedures. Hence, when buying a health insurance policy, always ask for the availability of daycare expenses coverage.
Network Hospitals
Before buying health insurance for senior citizens, always check the cashless network hospitals available in your locality. A cashless network of hospitals allows you to take advanced treatments cashless and saves you from the hustle of claim filing and following up.
Coverage breadth
In old age, it is common for an individual to undergo a series of diagnostic tests and routine check-ups that include doctor consultation costs, etc. To support this, the Health Insurance policy must also cover expenses incurred before hospitalisation.
Summing Up
Although you may consider adding your ageing parents to your existing family floater plan but always remember the healthcare needs of the elderly may be different from your healthcare needs. Buying an all-encompassing plan may cost you hefty charges while still making selecting basic needs difficult. Thus, it is always a feasible idea to buy a mediclaim policy specially designed for the senior citizens of the family.