Health Insurance Plans For Senior Citizens
Updated On Aug 21, 2022
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Senior Citizen Health Insurance is a type of health insurance plan for people who are over 60 years old. The plan is meant to make it easier on seniors financially and physically if they get sick and have to go to the hospital. This type of health insurance for seniors helps pay for medical care and can be bought on an individual or family basis.
Features of Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plans
Health insurance plans for older people have various key features. Some notables ones are listed below -
- Senior citizen health insurance plans have higher sum insured options to make sure that seniors have enough health insurance coverage in their "golden years."
- There are many health insurance plans for seniors on the market that can be renewed for life. This means that the policy can be renewed as often as the insured person wants, as long as the required premium is paid on time.
- Plans for health insurance for seniors cover a lot of things. These include coverage for an ambulance in case of an emergency, coverage for certain illnesses, and so on.
- After a certain waiting period, coverage is given for diseases that have already been diagnosed. Different insurance companies may have different waiting periods.
- In the event of hospitalisation, a senior citizen health insurance policy allows the insured to choose between free care and care that is paid for by the insurance company.
- Some plans for health insurance for seniors cover both the senior and his or her spouse under a single policy. This gives the insured people peace of mind.
- Most health insurance plans for senior citizens have the option of a co-payment. If you choose to pay a copayment, your health insurance premium will be less.
Advantages of Health Insurance Plans for Senior Citizens
Health insurance for seniors is set up in a way that gives them a number of benefits. Here are some of them:
- Pre-Medical Screening: Pre-medical screening is not required by most health insurance plans.
- Cover for Domiciliary Treatment Expenses: Most health insurance plans for seniors cover the costs of treatment at home. This is when the treatment that would have been done in a hospital is done at home.
- Choice of Second Option: When someone is sick, most people look for a second opinion. Most health insurance plans for seniors cover a second opinion once a year.
- No-Claim Bonus: The insured gets a certain amount as a reward for not making a claim in a given year. Most health insurance plans for seniors let you get a No Claim Bonus that ranges from 20% to 100%.
- Coverage for Hospitalisation Costs: Senior citizen health insurance policies pay hospitalisation fees for a fixed number of days, including pre- and post-hospitalization.
- Tax Benefits: Under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act of 1961, you can get a tax break for the premiums you pay for health insurance for seniors.
How Many Individuals Can Be Covered Under Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plans?
The coverage details of senior citizen health insurance plans is define below -
- The number of people covered by a health insurance plan for senior citizens depends on the type of plan and the insurance company.
- Some health insurers may only cover the self and the spouse individually, while others may cover the self, the spouse, the father, and the mother as a "family floater." In the second type, the premium is based on how old the oldest family member is.
Choosing the Right Senior Health Insurance Policy
It can be hard to figure out which of the many senior citizen health insurance plans on the market is the best one. It will be easier for you to choose one if you keep the following in mind:
- Know The Medical History: If you want to get a policy for your parents or other older people, you need to know their medical history. Even they might not know about all of their health problems, so it might not be a good idea to only rely on what they say about their medical history. So, you must double-check all of this information before giving it to the insurance company.
- Compare Plans And Pick One: In India, there are both new and old health insurance plans for senior citizens that you should compare before choosing one. When comparing different health insurance plans for seniors, you need to think about things like what's covered, what's not covered, riders or add-ons, premium, etc.
- Fill Proposal Form: When choosing a health insurance plan for seniors, you must fill out the correct and important information. If you give false information, your application could be turned down, and it could even cause problems if you need to make a claim in the future.
Conclusion
Plans for senior citizens provide several benefits such as cashless treatment, medical expenditure coverage, a large total insured range, tax benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, a No Claim Bonus, coverage for in-patient hospitalisation expenses, pre- and post-hospitalisation charges, childcare costs, pre-existing conditions, etc.
Also read: How To Pay Future Digit Health Insurance Premium Online?
