Key Features & Benefits of Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plans

In present times, private healthcare is becoming increasingly unaffordable. This steep rise in treatment costs is owing to the development in medical facilities which comes at a price. Even a single medical emergency is enough to wipe your entire life’s savings. Thus, health insurance is no short of a necessity in today’s day and age. While the situation is already tough for young and healthy individuals, it gets even more difficult for senior citizens. With limited income sources, funding a medical exigency can mean exhausting all retirement corpus. That’s when health insurance comes to the rescue.

Why should senior citizens have a health insurance plan?

The medical needs rise as age increases. Thus, frequent hospitalization is common during the golden years. While a high treatment cost can burden your finances, a senior citizen's health cover helps tackle them without any financial stress. Moreover, a senior citizen health insurance policy also covers commonly occurring age-related ailments along with other hospitalization costs. Further, a preventive check-up is an additional advantage which is why elderly individuals must buy health insurance policies. In addition, some plans offer a cashless health insurance facility where minimal outflow is required for the treatments covered by your insurance cover. Timely medical attention is also necessary which can be available using the network of hospitals in your health plan. *Standard T&C Apply

Features of health insurance for senior citizens

·       Coverage for pre-existing ailments

As the human body ages, health conditions usually begin showing up. These ailments, at the time of policy purchase, are termed pre-existing diseases. Since older people are more prone to being diagnosed with some form of ailment, it is essential to get a plan with coverage for pre-existing ailments. These pre-existing ailments impact the policy premium as well as levy a waiting period for the insurance coverage to kick in.*

·       Lower co-payment terms

The co-payment clause refers to a specified percentage of expenses that the policyholder is required to contribute at the time of making an insurance claim. A policy with lower co-payment helps reduce the out-of-pocket expenses that you are required to pay. Thus, it helps you keep your hard-earned savings intact.*

·       Cumulative bonus

The cumulative bonus is a nifty feature to increase the coverage of your insurance plan when no claims are made. It isn’t every policy tenure that a claim shall be made and that’s when a cumulative bonus helps enhance your subsequent policy’s sum insured. Ensuring your senior citizen health cover provides a cumulative bonus facility helps to increase the sum assured of your plan each time you do not raise a claim.*

·       Pre and post hospitalization cover

While hospitalization is included as a standard by senior citizen covers, pre/post-hospitalization treatment is also essential. The treatments after a medical procedure are also essential, and hence, are an essential policy feature. Likewise, the check-up cost before such treatment can also be high and pre-hospitalization cover can prove to be useful for the same.*

·       Higher entry age

Health insurance for senior citizens is specifically designed to offer medical coverage for the elderly. Hence, these plans have a higher entry age, which goes up to 70 years. Such a high entry age allows individuals to purchase a policy after retirement.*

·       Preventive health check-up

As age-related ailments are common with an increase in age, early detection can help tackle them quickly. Preventive check-up feature in senior citizens cover helps in the diagnosis of such ailments. Often the results of such preventive health check-ups determine the premium of insurance covers.* *Standard T&C Apply

Over to You

Apart from the above features, senior citizen health plans offer the benefits of cashless treatment. In addition, the premiums paid for these plans are available as a deduction in your income tax return, helping you save more. Further, the benefits also include customization that helps fine-tune the policy coverage as per your medical requirements. The increased reliance on medical support during old age can be dealt with using a senior citizen health insurance policy. Hence, do not forget to avail a senior citizen cover offering the above features and benefits for your parents or even yourself.   Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.