Health insurance has become indispensable today. While buying the same is easy for the young generation, the same cannot be said for senior citizens. No one likes to see their parents get old and fight age-related health challenges. Health costs have become very expensive today, especially for senior citizens, and having to face a financial crisis, in addition to the same, is highly undesirable but not avoidable. This is a problem that needs immediate attention from us.
Universally, people over the age of 60 years are considered senior citizens. This is the generation that, till recently, were at the top of their personal professional careers, jobs or business, and were main contributors to society. Having led a full life of hard work, the generation deserves to live their full age with dignity and without financial hassles. However, with age, the biggest challenge and difficulty they face today is with their health, followed by financial security, for a majority of us. At this sensitive phase of life, depending on children/family for health expenses is something of a worry to senior citizens. It is also likely that things normally don’t get priority, adequate attention and special care in the initial stages of any health issue, leading to further worsening of the case. In short, health care for senior citizens is one subject that needs very urgent attention and also a solution.
Health care needs for senior citizens is pretty common today, and almost every family goes through this phase sooner or later. As people age, the list and likelihood of ailments increases and there is a high risk of even repeated hospital visits/treatments. In most cases, group or floater health insurance policies are found to be inadequate. Buying an independent, adequate senior citizen health cover makes perfect sense and is the best thing to do in order to safeguard your health care expenses in the coming years. This may just protect you from falling into any financial crisis like situation and more importantly, ensure continued availability of proper care and treatment. If you have your parents or any senior citizen in your family dependent on you, taking health insurance cover should be considered as your duty and responsibility towards them while being smart about your own finances. If you are a senior citizen, a proper cover might just save you from burning your life’s savings.
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As the name suggests, most insurers offer senior citizen health insurance policies to people in the age group of 60 years and above.
Like any other insurance product, health insurance for senior citizens is a simple contract between the insurer and the policyholder who pays a premium to the insurer and in return, the insurer pays for the medical expenses. Usually, the scope of coverage covers hospitalisation, day-care treatments, post and pre-hospitalisation, of the insured person. However, the premium amount for a senior citizen policy is understandably much higher than health policies meant for a younger individual, since the probability for claims is also very high. Premium though should not be your only deciding factor and one should buy a policy after due consideration of important features and your requirements.
- Medical Tests: No pre-policy medical checkup is preferred. However, in some cases, the underwriter may request a few medical tests. If you can go for medical tests, this should not be a deal-breaker.
- Day Care Treatments:This is a fairly common feature offered by insurers that covers treatment procedures that require hospitalisation for less than 24-hours. These include chemotherapy, radiation, dialysis, cataract, lithotripsy, tonsillectomy and so on. You can prefer policies that offer the maximum coverage, especially for the likely, common and expensive day-care treatments.
- Sub- Limits: Sub-limits are the monetary caps or extra limits put on different heads/nature of expenses under a policy, usually in the form of a fixed amount or percentage of the sum assured. Sub-limits are normally put on expenses like room rent, consultation fees, ambulance charges, and few planned medical procedures. Sub-limits are an important element of a policy that helps protect the liability of the insurer and thus also make the policy cheaper. You may choose a policy as per your needs & budget, although a policy without or liberal sub-limits is preferred.
- Pre & Post Hospitalisation: As the name suggests, these are expenses incurred by the insured before and after hospitalisation. This usually covers medication costs, tests, consultation fees, etc. While this is a common feature, the number of days covered is important here and one should prefer one with a higher number of days covered.
- Domiciliary Care: This feature covers expenses arising out of treatment at home and is preferred. This is fairly common among the older population, and having this feature can be of great help when required.
- Organ Donor: This feature helps provide coverage to the policyholder up to a specified limit for the organ donor expenses. This typically covers the in-patient hospitalization and surgery-related expenses for the patient. Having this cover is preferred.
- AYUSH Treatments: AYUSH stands for alternative medical therapies/sciences of Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy. This feature covers any of these treatments and is a desirable feature to have.
- Co-Pay: This is the percentage of the claim amount that is borne by an insured person, under a health insurance policy and the rest of the amount will be paid by the insurer. Generally, copayment helps in reducing the premium amount. A few insurers are also giving an option to reduce Co-Pay thereby reducing out-of-pocket expenses. Such a feature is more preferable.
- No Claim Bonus: This is the extra sum-assured added for every claim-free year as a reward for not claiming on his health insurance. Again, a common feature and a good thing to have in your policy.
- Restore/Recharge Benefit: This benefit restores your sum insured after it has been exhausted along with the accrued Cumulative Bonus, within a policy period due to an accident or any illness or hospitalisation. So, even if you consume the entire sum insured, you need not worry as if you have this benefit your insurance company can restore the entire amount and you can use it in the future. This is a good feature to have in a policy.
- Free Annual Health Checkup: Old age requires more prevention and protection in terms of health, and medical check-ups can help you to achieve that. There are few policies that are offering free annual health check-ups, which again is a good feature to have.
- OPD Cover: OPD stands for “Out-Patient Department” where patients visit for diagnosis and tests without being admitted to the hospital. An OPD is an important cover that ensures that you will be covered by your health insurance even without hospitalisation and where even smaller costs are covered as well. And in this age, the probability of frequent consultation is higher due to seasonal diseases. With this cover, you are eligible to make multiple claims of consultation throughout the year until the limit is exhausted.
Health policies for senior citizens is a must and should be considered on priority. While the premiums may seem expensive to some, they should be seen as an investment and not an expense. Understanding your needs and buying the right policy is crucial. If required, you can seek help from your insurance advisor. As discussed, an adequate health cover can prove to be very fruitful in future and give you peace of mind. If you want Health Insurance for your parents and want to seek information on Health Insurance, you can contact us at chandrakant@ghanchiinvest.com or call us at +91 9820926446/7977061717. For more details click here
