Home Finance Keep Your Elderly Safe by Purchasing the Best Health Insurance for Senior Citizen

Keep Your Elderly Safe by Purchasing the Best Health Insurance for Senior Citizen

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A robust health insurance policy is an important lifeline for senior citizens who need healthcare. Read on to know more about how you can keep the elderly safe with health insurance.

In current times, when more and more people are leading a sedentary lifestyle and are becoming prone to various illnesses and diseases, a health insurance policy has become a necessity. And the relevance of health insurance increases for older adults. With the rising concerns of the COVID-19 virus spread, many youngsters are worried about their parents’ health. They are buying a health insurance policy for senior citizens to provide them financial security during an emergency.

As the name suggests, health insurance for senior citizens is specially designed to meet older adults’ medical requirements. In the event of an emergency, the insurance company pays the sum assured, in lieu of the premium that you must pay every year to keep the insurance policy active.

Benefits of buying health insurance for senior citizens

Today, most insurance companies in India offer a wide variety of senior citizen health insurance plans that cater to the policyholders’ different needs. So, there is no shortage of plans, and you can surely find one that best suits your specific requirements.

  • One of the most significant benefits of a senior citizen healthcare plan is that it allows you to take care of the hospitalisation expenses without draining your savings. Most policies cover the cost of medicines, doctor consultation fees, etc.
  • Almost all the reputed companies in India offer cashless hospitalisation facilities to all policyholders, including senior citizens. So, if your parents are diagnosed with any disease that requires them to get admitted, you can seek treatment from any of the insurer’s network hospitals and avail cashless treatment. This means the insurer will directly settle the bill with the hospital; you need not spend a single penny from your pocket.
  • Apart from covering the expenses incurred while the senior citizens are admitted to the hospital, most insurance policies for senior citizens also cover day scare costs for procedures that do not require hospitalisation. However, when you claim this cost, you must be aware of the terms and conditions of the diseases covered under day care. For example, some policies may not cover dental check-ups.
  • A lot of people have concerns about the pre-existing conditions of their elderly parents. But, you must know that most policies in India cover pre-existing diseases, subject to certain terms and conditions. For example, there may be a waiting period of up to 48 months before you can file a claim for hospitalisation expenses related to a pre-existing condition.
  • Another significant benefit of buying a senior citizen Mediclaim policy, apart from the financial protection is that you get tax benefit on the premium paid towards the policy. This means you can reduce your tax liability and get a deduction up to Rs. 50,000 under section 80D of the Indian Income Tax Act.
  • Since the healthcare need for senior citizens tends to be more critical, the health insurance policies for the elderly are designed to have a higher sum assured.
  • Lastly, almost all the healthcare plans in India for senior citizens cover both pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses. In simple words, the costs you may incur before and after the person is admitted to the hospital; the insurance company will reimburse the same.

Thus, with so many benefits of buying health insurance for senior citizens, it is the most definitive way to ensure full protection to the elderly against medical emergencies.