Your parents would have taken care of you when you were young. But now that you’ve gotten older, you would have to step up and take up the responsibility of caring for them. One of the many ways through which you can ensure your parent’s well-being is by opting for comprehensive health insurance for senior citizens.
Opting for such a policy can help you deal with the rising medical costs associated with treating ailments and diseases which may crop up during the latter half of your parent’s lives. However, as with any insurance policy, choosing the right coverage is key. Opting for lower coverage will leave you to deal with a large part of the expenses on your own, whereas opting for too much coverage will make your premiums unaffordable.
Continue reading to find out how you can ensure that your parents are insured appropriately and in line with their needs.
Factors to Consider When Determining Health Insurance Coverage
There are quite a few things that you would have to take into account when trying to determine the right amount of coverage you need for health insurance for senior citizens. Let’s take a quick glimpse at a few of them.
Health Insurance Coverage Formula
If you’re finding it difficult to zero in on the right sum insured amount for your parent’s health insurance, there’s a simple little formula that you can use.
Insurance Coverage = 50% of your income (per annum) + 100% of medical expenses incurred in the last 3 years |
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So, let’s say that your annual income comes up to ₹8,50,000 and that you incurred medical expenses of around ₹2,50,000 in the last three years for your parents. Going by this formula, you should opt for insurance coverage of at least ₹6,75,000 [50% of ₹8,50,000 + 100% of ₹2,50,000].
Your Parents’ Requirements
Now, the health insurance coverage formula mentioned above is not a hard and fast rule. It is designed to only give you an approximate idea of the amount of coverage that you would have to opt for health insurance for senior citizens.
To ensure that your parents are insured appropriately, you would have to consider their requirements as well. For instance, if your parents’ medical history puts them at an elevated risk of developing certain diseases or ailments, you should ensure that the health insurance plan that you opt for provides the coverage necessary to tackle them.
Also, another major factor that you need to consider is the tenure of the plan. It is advisable to opt for the longest possible tenure. This will ensure that your parents stay covered for as long as possible.
Coverage for Pre-Existing Diseases
Not all health insurance plans cover pre-existing diseases or ailments. And even if they do, the waiting periods may vary from one policy to another. Therefore, this is something that you should account for when shopping for health insurance for senior citizens.
So, if your parents are battling with any pre-existing diseases, you should look to opt for a plan that covers all of them. And while you’re at it, also consider purchasing health insurance that has the least waiting period. Doing so will make sure that the coverage not only kicks in early on but also reduces the total out-of-pocket expenditure.
Inclusions and Exclusions
When you read through the policy document of health insurance for senior citizens, you will find a list of inclusions and exclusions. Inclusions are situations that the insurance policy covers and exclusions are situations that it doesn’t cover.
It is crucial to thoroughly peruse this list before proceeding to purchase a health insurance plan. Being aware of the situations where the health insurance plan for your parents doesn’t provide coverage can help you plan your finances in a much better manner.
Conclusion
In addition to the factors listed above, you should also spend some time choosing the right health insurance riders if you’re planning to ensure that your parents are comprehensively protected. A rider that you should seriously consider opting for is the critical illness rider, which covers specified critical illnesses like heart diseases, strokes, cancers, tumours, and more. Carefully looking into the aspects mentioned above allows you to purchase comprehensive health insurance for senior citizens that is capable of providing your parents with complete protection from the financially draining effect of medical treatments.
