How To Choose Health Insurance For Parents?
Updated On Feb 28, 2021
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Buying health insurance for our parents is mandatory as with age, the responsibility of looking after their wellbeing falls on our shoulders. There is a complete role reversal in our families where our parents become dependent on us for their daily needs and health requirements. Furthermore, post retirement, their regular, independent income tends to get reduced and with old age creeping in, they become more susceptible to critical illnesses. Given the high costs of medical treatment, it is imperative to have them secured under a health insurance policy and in this article we are going to tell you how you can select health plans for your parents.
Several health insurance providers offer insurance plans specially curated for senior citizens and the following points will help you to decide which benefits you can have in your parents insurance plan -
How To Choose Health Insurance For Parents?
Look For Comprehensive Coverage
In old age, our immune system decreases in capacity and renders us vulnerable to many critical diseases. The possibility of an underlying medical condition aggravating our health can not also be ruled out and understanding this crisis, health insurance policies designed for senior citizens offer comprehensive coverage options. It supports you financially during times of medical emergency and also comes with certain investment options that guarantee a monthly, regular income for your parents. You should look for plans that come with a compensation of all medical expenses, including pre and post hospitalization charges, consultation charges, room rent and pharmacy bills. Some plans also provide additional coverage for daycare medical procedures such as cataract surgery, dialysis or chemotherapy and it is advisable to select a plan that offers financial assistance for these instances as well.
Look For Pre-Existing Disease Coverage
In general, health insurance plans do not cover any underlying or pre-existing medical condition, nor does it accord financial assistance for the diagnosis of any critical illness prior to the beginning of policy term. Such diseases are usually covered after a waiting period that can extend from a few months to almost 2 years. But, health insurance plans for parents and senior citizens do provide coverage against pre-existing medical conditions and you should look for this coverage option under the health insurance plan you buy for your loved ones. This benefit ensures that the health and medical requirements of your parents have all round and also reduced your tension of amassing treatment funds during a health emergency.
Look For Transportation Charges
Stepping into the final quarter of our lives comes with many hindrances and one such hindrance is the reduced capacity of mobility. With age, our parents might find it difficult to move quickly or undertake the stress of travelling to a hospital. Keeping such circumstances in mind, it is a good choice to have a health insurance policy that comes with an ambulance coverage or transportation costs. Having this feature and benefit under your parents’ health insurance plan should be nothing less than an inbuilt feature to ensure that they reach the hospital or a medical clinic at the earliest, in times of distress.
Must Have Wide Age Bracket
The health insurance policy that you select for your parents must have an extended upper age limit for being eligible beneficiaries. General health insurance policies come with a maximum age of entry at 65 years but for financially securing the health of your parents, an insuance policy should be comfortable in allowing people within the age group of 60 years to 80 years to be their beneficiaries. It will guarantee complete coverage for their mounting medical expenses for a considerable period of time, and you can also be relieved of financial insolvency from your side.
Choose A Higher Sum Assured
While buying health insurance for your parents, always select a plan that comes with a higher sum assured. As per the general principles of health and life insurances, a higher sum insured is promised as we age while it is generally less in young age. Hence, the plan that you buy for your parents should usually come with a greater sum assured. You might have to pay a higher premium, but it ultimately leads to complete financial support and security for your parents for the rest of their lives.
These steps will help you to select comprehensive health insurance plans for your parents. However, these points are only suggestive and the plan that you purchase should be comfortable to your pockets and the medical requirements of your parents at large.
