How should we choose a health insurance policy for senior citizens?
Things to keep in my mind while choosing health insurance for your parents or senior citizens.
Senior citizens need special care. While selecting health Insurance for them we must pay extra attention. As per law in 2009 no health Insurance company can deny senior citizens till 65 years of age. Prior to that either more premium was charged or no Health Insurance was provided to them.
Some of the leading players with customized plans for senior citizens are as follows.
Religare Health Insurance - Health Insurance plan for Senior Citizens
Star Health- Red Carpet Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan
Bajaj Alliance - Silver Senior Citizen Health Insurance
Apollo Munich - Senior Optima
SBI Health Insurance - Arogya Top-up Health Insurance Plan
Factors to keep in Mind while selecting Senior Citizens Plans
Eligibility
Every Health Insurance company got different eligibility criteria for age. Before contacting these companies we must check the same. It will save a lot of time. Normally senior citizens up to 65 years are easily covered. There are many companies that cover senior citizens up to 75 years of age as well. Some of them got customized Health plan from 65 to 80 years as well. We can compare and choose the suitable insurance.
Coverage
We must also check how much maximum amount of Sum Insured is covered in the plan. Some Insurance companies offer a limited cover. We must try to go for the company that can offer maximum cover.
Amount of Premium
The amount of premium that we need to pay in regular intervals also play a good role in deciding about the policy. We can always do a quick comparison and select the suitable policy.
Products
We can also check the products that these Insurance companies offer. They are often customized as per our requirements. We can also compare the features of all the plans and choose the one as suitable.
Features & Prerequisite of Senior Citizens Health Insurance Plans
Critical illness
The number of critical illness covered tells a lot about Health Insurance Plan. Some Health Insurance policies include lots of critical illnesses. We must choose the plan as per the same.
Cashless Facility
Checking all the cashless network of the hospital can also be helpful. These Health Insurance companies can have many numbers of hospitals covered under them. More the number better it is. We can evaluate these health insurance companies on that basis as well.
Coverage
The best feature of these Health Insurance companies is the amount of Sum Insured they cover. The amount is directly related to the amount of premium that we need to pay.
Prerequisite like Tests etc
Certain Health Insurance companies make it mandatory to show the test reports before the policy. However, in some others, we can easily buy without any criteria.
Domiciliary Treatments
Domiciliary treatments are applicable if it exceeds 3 days of hospitalization. It can be easily availed in the home itself. While electing Health Insurance plan for our parents we must check this feature. As they might need it more than anyone else.
Room Rent
We can always check the room rent limit if any. The decision for a Health Insurance plan can be taken on this criteria as well.
Tax savings
The best feature of these Health Insurance plan is the tax benefits that we get. As per section 80 d, we can save the amount of tax to a good extent.
Convalescence Benefits
It includes the recovery benefits as well. While selecting a Health Insurance plan this can play an important role as well.
Day Procedures
There are so many illnesses that don't require any hospitalization. They can be easily treated with day procedures. There are a number of diseases that come under it. While selecting a health insurance policy for senior citizens we can always check that feature.
