Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy

A senior citizen healthcare plan is designed in a way that can offer multiple benefits to the customers:-

Hospitalisation Cover It is a fact that your medical needs will increase with the growing age. A senior citizen health insurance plan will be there to assist you on hospitalization expenses as the insurance company will pay for all the medical expenses.

Cashless hospitalisation One of the best feature of health insurance plans. Under the same, if you are taking treatment in a network hospital then you don’t have to pay for any medical expense from your pocket as the insurer will clear the same at the hospital desk on your behalf. This will help you in saving a lot and focus on the treatment rather than the funds.

Cover for pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses Almost all insurance companies will provide coverage against pre- and post-hospitalisation expenses.

Tax benefits The best thing about investing in a senior citizen health insurance plan is that all premiums paid by the policyholder will be liable to get tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Discounts and bonuses Many insurance companies are providing different types of discounts that would be in the form of lower premium or bonuses for the next policy year.

Some of the key features of senior citizen health insurance plans are:

The plan is designed to provide the needful cover to the people of age 60 years and above.

Pre-existing disease and a few specific diseases would be liable to get cover after a fixed tenure of time.

There are many health insurance plans that offer the lifetime renewals

Several medical related amenities such as ambulatory services, are covered by most of the senior citizen health insurance policies.

It also allows insured person to choose a preferred Sum Insured that would be sufficient for his/her medical needs.

Policyholder can go for cashless treatment and even ask for reimbursement of all medical related expenses post the actual hospitalization.

There are a few senior citizen health insurance plans that offer coverage to policyholder along with option of enrolling their spouse as well under the same as well.

Many insurance policies provides the option of co-pay. Opting for Co pay can lead you towards lower premium and in a few cases it will make you eligible to receive a few discounts as well.

The benefits of choosing the best health insurance plan for senior citizens are as follows:

• Get the advantage of higher sum insured
• Avail tax benefits on almost all insurance premiums
• Enjoy the free look period
• Day care costs including the use of special equipment while treating procedures such as dialysis and chemotherapy are covered
• Get the benefit of annual health checkup
• Cashless hospitalization will be there to assist you in case of more than 24 hours of hospitalization that also includes the doctor fees, medical bills, room charges, etc.
• Choice to renew policy available
• Subject to the limit, ambulance expenses for transporting the policyholder shall be borne
• Pre and Post hospitalization will be liable to get the cover
• Quick and hassle-free claim settlement

Investing in a health insurance plan for aging parents is a process that should be done very carefully as you want to offer the best out of all. Keep the following points in mind while choosing medical insurance for parents above 60 years:

Medical history: It is very important for you to know the medical history of your parents while opting for a health insurance plan. But, in a few cases your parents also don’t know about medical condition that they suffer from. In such scenario, it is very difficult to have complete knowledge of medical history. Before submitting such information, you should always cross check the same.

Compare and Choose Plan: In India, there are many health insurance companies that deals in senior citizen medical insurance plans. It is important to compare between the different available options. By comparing different available senior citizen health insurance plan on the basis of price, features, inclusions, exclusions, etc.

Fill proposal form: While choosing the plan, fill in relevant and correct information. Incorrect data could cause problems and your insurance company will reject the application.

Do a medical check-up: The policyholder would have to go through a medical screening after submitting the proposal form. The doctors who are present on the panel of the insurer would verify the information related to the medical conditions of the policyholder. Depending on the health of the insured, a few medical tests would be conducted by the doctor. Some of the tests include lipid profile, blood routine, sugar, urine routine, kidney and liver function, sonography, etc. Note: There are a few senior citizen medical insurance plans that don’t require pre-policy medical screening.

For Example: Tanveer lives with his wife who is a homemaker, 2 school-going kids and his parents. His income is Rs.50,000 per month and is the only bread-earner of the family. As his parents are aged above 65, he decided to buy a senior citizen medical insurance plan for them. Any medical emergency can leave the whole family financially crippled. That was something Tanveer didn't want.

So, after assessing his parents' medical history by checking all the earlier medical reports, he searched health insurance plans for parents. Their pre-policy medical check-up are normal reports and the insurance company accepted the proposal form. The policy that he chooses for his parents required him to pay just Rs. 6000 per month. This was the one of the best decisions that Tanveer took as it left him and his parents financially secure and happy.