After entering their 60s, our parents unfortunately suffer a lot in their old age due to medical ailments. They have to undergo treatment frequently & they are more prone to multiple medical issues. The cost of treatment of such old age ailments is also quite expensive. A Senior citizen health insurance pays for almost 70% of the medical cost when your parents get admitted for any treatment
Aging makes our parents frequently visit the doctor’s clinic & also get admitted once in a while. This overall becomes quite expensive. Additionally, what would you do if there’s an emergency & you’re required to have lakhs of rupees in your bank account. In such a situation, a health insurance for senior citizens helps you with the following;
It covers for your old age medical treatment costs without harming your savings or pension money. A Senior citizen health insurance provides financial support for:
A senior citizen health insurance policy offers a wide range of benefits to older people. Here are some key benefits of purchasing a senior citizen health insurance policy in India.
Besides the above features, almost all other features of the senior citizen health insurance plan are similar to those present in normal health plans. Though many companies have policies which cover senior citizens, here we have chosen 4 insurance companies that offer specially designed senior citizen plans. Let us take a look:
1. New India Assurance Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy:
2. Star Health Senior Citizens Red Carpet Policy
4. Care Health Insurance Care Senior plan
5. Max Bupa Senior First Plan
7. Aditya Birla's Activ Care plan
| Top Health Insurance Plans | Sum Insured | Tax Benefits Section 80D | Renewability | Co-Payment | Medical Checkup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bajaj Allianz Silver Health Plan | 50K to 5 Lakh | Yes | Lifelong Renewability | 20% | Pre - medical tests are mandatory for every proposal |
| Star Health – Senior Citizen Red Carpet Policy | 1 Lakh to 25 Lakhs | Yes | Lifelong Renewability | 30% - 50% | None |
| Apollo Munich's Optima Senior Health Plan | 2 Lakh to 5 Lakhs | Yes | Lifelong Renewability | 15% - 30% | Yes | ICICI Lombard's iHealth Plan | 3 Lakh to 50 Lakh | Yes | Lifelong Renewability | NA | Free at selected centres |
| New India's Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy | 1 lakh & 1.5 lakhs | Yes | Lifelong Renewability | 10% | Yes |
| National Insurance Varistha Mediclaim | 1 Lakh & 2 Lakhs | Yes | Lifelong Renewability | 10% - 20% | Yes |
Buying health insurance for aging parents has to be done carefully as you would want them to deserve the best. Keep the following points in mind while choosing medical insurance for parents above 60 years:
Note: There are certain senior citizen medical insurance plans that don’t require pre-policy medical screening tests.
For Example: Mayur lives with his wife who is a homemaker, 2 school-going kids and his parents. He earns around 50,000 per month and is the only bread-earner of the family. Since his parents are aged above 65, he decided to purchase a senior citizen medical insurance plan for them. Sudden medical crisis could leave the whole family financially crippled. That was something Mayur didn’t want.
So, after assessing his parents' medical history by going through all their earlier medical reports, he browsed the web and searched health insurance plans for parents . Their pre-policy medical check-up showed normal reports and the insurance company accepted the proposal form. The policy that Mayur chose for his parents required him to pay just Rs. 6000 per month. This was the best decision that Mayur took as it left him and his parents financially secure and happy.
If you want to compare senior citizen medical insurance in India, you need to remember that the type of policy a person wishes to avail depends primarily on:
While doing a comparison on health insurance plans for senior citizens in India, consider the following parameters:
Waiting Period:
The following table shows the basic specifications of most health insurance plans for senior citizens in India.
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The following documents are required to raise a claim under a mediclaim policy for senior citizens
For a Death Claim:
Medical Natural Death:
Accidental Unnatural Death:
You might feel that your lifetime savings will be sufficient to manage any of your medical expenses in your old age. However, many cases show that this doesn't happen. There are countless cases where elder people exhaust their lifetime savings & are unable to attend to their medical needs in old age.
Hence, a health insurance plan for a senior citizen is of prime importance. It takes care of the elderly person's high medical expenses without exhausting their lifetime savings or pension money. The senior citizen health insurance takes care of the rising medical expenses. Here are few important reasons why you should buy Senior Citizen Health insurance Plan online from Coverfox.com
IRDAI or Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India have been authorized with the responsibility to monitor the provisions of government-backed health insurance policies that are customized for senior citizens, among various other tasks. It keeps a close tab of the features and benefits offered through senior citizen health insurance plans and regulate them at frequent intervals to ensure their welfare.
Here are some of the regulatory activities undertaken by IRDAI in the recent past:
Imagine having to arrange for hospitalization and medical expenses in a matter of a few hours. More so, when you consider the exorbitant medical charges that are rapidly rising. Now, consider how it would have been had you been insured by a senior citizen health insurance plan. Wouldn’t that be convenient and ease your financial burden when such a situation arises, irrespective of whether it is a planned hospitalization or an unforeseen emergency? A senior citizen health insurance plan assures you the financial security during your post-retirement years when you probably would not have a high monthly income.
The "Golden Years" aren't quite that golden as you age. The loss of regular income due to retirement can only add to the distress of an ailing health. Hence, unless you're born with a silver spoon, a decent health insurance plan can be your only Messiah during this stage of your life.
As premiums are primarily dependent on the age of the insured member, the health plans for senior citizens are costlier than the regular health insurance. However, plans such as Star Health Insurance's Red Carpet for Senior Citizens offer coverage at standard premium irrespective of the age bracket.
The price or cost of health insurance for senior citizens varies from one insurer to another on several factors. You can speak to the advisory team of Coverfox.com to get details of the best health insurance policy for senior citizens.
Under the Section 80D of the Income Tax Act 1961, Senior Citizens can avail tax benefit up to Rs.30,000 each year on the premium paid.. Similarly, if you are paying the premium towards your parents' policy, you can avail this benefit for yourself.
You can contact Coverfox.com and give details of your registered mobile number and email id as all your details which is stored in the system would be fetched. The claim request would then be forwarded by the service management team to your insurance company. It would take approximately 15 – 20 working days for the claim to be settled.
To calculate senior citizen medical insurance premium, the main factors that are considered are age, sum insured, and pre-existing conditions. At times, if your insurance company may hike your insurance premium if they find out that you are suffering from some pre-existing disease.
No you cannot buy senior citizen health insurance without medical test. The one exception is the Star Health Insurance's Red Carpet for Senior Citizens. In this, medical test is not required. You can always check the policy brochure before buying this plan.
Pre-existing conditions are the ailment or disease that existed before you bought a health insurance policy. This is significant because your insurer would not cover such pre-existing conditions, within 48 months of prior to buying the 1st policy. It means, pre-existing conditions can be compensated after 48 months of continuous insurance cover.
Co-payment is the part amount that you have to pay from your pocket for medical treatment and medication while your insurance company will pay the remaining amount. Co-pay policies are more applicable to senior citizen health insurance policies in India. While you would be paying just a part of it, majority would be paid by the insurer. The co-pay fees vary from one insurer to another. You would have to check your policy document to see if your senior citizen health plan has the co-pay option. Note that co-pay is different from co-insurance. The difference between co-pay and co-insurance is that in co-insurance the insurer and the insured person get into a contract where each party has to agree to the percentage of the total cost to be paid. Whereas, in co-pay, the insured person has to pay a fixed amount for various healthcare services and treatments.
A pre-acceptance medical screening is a technique of identifying the presence of any undiagnosed disease or ailment in a person without the signs or symptoms. Insurers insist that the insured person undergo a medical test before accepting their proposal form as the insurance company can assess their risk properly. Based on the results of the medical screening, the proposal form for the insurance policy is either accepted or rejected (in case of pre-existing diseases that are excluded from the insurance policy).
A free look period is that duration where a policyholder is given time to think over and can terminate the insurance contract without any penalities. Depending from insurer-to-insurer, the free look period could last for around 10 days or more than that. The insured can decide whether they want to continue with the policy. If they aren’t satisfied, the policyholder can receive full refund for it.
Tax benefits on senior citizen health insurance generally depend on the age of the insured person. If you are paying health insurance for your parents who are senior citizens above the age of 60, the maximum amount that can be capped is Rs. 30,000. As a taxpayer you can maximize your tax benefit up to Rs. 55,000 under section 80D you’re your age is below 60 but your parents age is above 60. If you are a tax payer above the age of 60 having health insurance for yourself and you are paying health insurance for parents, then you can get a maximum benefit of section 80 D up to Rs. 60,000. When it comes to the premium paid for self, children, spouse, or parents, the tax benefit that can be availed is around Rs. 25,000 a year.
Cashless hospitalization is the facility where an insured person can be admitted and undergo treatment without having to pay medical expenses directly to the hospital. With this facility, the insured person has to be admitted in any of the network hospitals tied up with the insurance company. On making a claim, the policyholder can inform the insurer and all the medical expenses would be compensated to the hospital directly by the insurance company. In short, the insured does not have to pay anything to the hospital and then wait for a reimbursement from the insurance company.
Senior citizen health insurance is designed for individuals between the age group of 60 years to 80 years of age, though it varies between insurance companies. However, children of senior citizens or those approaching 60 years of age are eligible for purchasing senior citizen health insurance plans.
Senior citizen health insurance is designed for individuals between the age group of 60 years to 80 years, though it varies between insurance companies. Senior citizens or those approaching 60 years of age are eligible for purchasing senior citizen health insurance plans.
Tax benefit of up to Rs.50,000 as per Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, is offered on premium payments made towards senior citizen health insurance. This tax benefit includes preventive health check-ups as well, and is applicable when the policyholder’s parents are senior citizens, even though the policyholder himself/herself is less than 60 years.
There are two claim settlement processes that you can choose from:
Here are some senior citizen health insurance plans in India that you may choose from:
Senior citizen health insurance is designed for individuals between the age group of 60 years to 80 years, though it varies between insurance companies. Senior citizens or those approaching 60 years of age are eligible for purchasing senior citizen health insurance plans.
No, senior citizens are not required to produce evidence of income to avail a senior citizen health insurance policy. The documents that are usually insisted upon include age proof, medical check-up documents and supporting documents for any pre-existing ailments. Individuals are advised to refer to the product brochure of a senior citizen health plan to find out the list of documents required, as they will vary from one company to another.
