How to Take Care of Your Parents with Health Insurance

We can turn a blind eye to it as much as we want, it doesn’t change the fact that our parents are ageing everyday. And even though they still manage to cover it, their pain and illness keep growing with age. Not paying attention to it will only make it worse. Hence, a sensible step in the right direction is to buy them a well-rounded health insurance plan which keeps them covered for medical exigencies.

What do health insurance policies generally cover?

Generally, the coverage offered by health insurance plans in India includes: -

Cost of hospitalization – Since our parents are getting older with time, it is quite probable that they might need to get hospitalized for a test or a treatment. Fortunately, expenses of hospitalization (of over 24 hours) are included in the coverage offered by health insurance plans in India. Also covered under the plan would be doctor’s fee, room charges, nursing expenses, cost of drugs, and so on.

Pre and post hospitalization expenses – Health insurances also take care of medical expenses for a specific number of days before and after hospitalization. So, if your parents fall ill post discharge, and require medical attention, the cost of the same would get reimbursed. This time period commonly extends upto 30 days before and 60 days after hospitalization.

Ambulance charges – Often, ambulance charges are quite high. Thankfully, this is another thing that your insurance provider will take care of, on your behalf under the insurance policy.

Day-care expenses – There are diagnoses and treatments, like a minor surgery of the nose or ears, which do not require the patients to undertake an extended test or get admitted into the hospital. Such tests and treatments are known as day-care procedures, and are covered by many medical insurance policies available nowadays.

Benefits of buying a health insurance for parents

A health insurance plan is possibly the best gift that you can offer to your parents, as a mediclaim policy will keep them financially well-covered in case of a medical exigency. Building on that, a health insurance policy ensures several valuable benefits for your parents, a few of which include -

Good coverage–Getting your parents a health insurance policy will help cover major medical expenses relating to hospitalization, day care expenses, domiciliary treatment, ambulance charges, pre and post hospitalization treatments, and much more.

Coverage against pre-existing conditions – By buying health insurance plans for your parents, you will also be safeguarding them from the dampening effects of chronic pre-existing diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart problems etc. These are ailments that lead to a gradual decline in a person’s health, and many of these can be covered by modern-day health insurance plans.

Tax benefits - Health insurance premiums are subject to tax deductions under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act. This means if you are parents are senior citizens (i.e. of 60 years of age and above) and insured under a health insurance plan, they would be liable to receiving tax deduction upto ₹30,000 based on their insurance policy.

Things to consider when purchasing a health insurance for parents

There are nitty-gritties involved in health insurance plans which every health insurance buyer must understand. To ensure that your parents genuinely benefit from their health insurance plans, here are a few things you need to bear in mind when purchasing a health plan for them: –

Check the Age limit – When purchasing a health insurance policy for your parents, you would obviously want to keep them well-covered, and that too for a long time. The reason behind this is the simple fact that with age, their medical expenses are only going to increase.

Health insurance policies come with a lower and upper age limit. In your case, you need to find your parents a policy that has a high upper age limit.

Disclose the pre-existing diseases – Even though health insurance plans in India do not cover each and every pre-existing disease that a policy holder may have, they do cover many. So, when purchasing a health plan, you need to ensure that the pre-existing ailments that your parents are suffering fromare covered under it.

Additionally, when buying a mediclaim policy for your parents, it is important that you clearly mention all the ailments that your parents have, so that they don’t have to face any hassle when making a claim.

Look for Critical illness coverage – Although critical illnesses are not generally covered under standard health insurance plans, there are many insurers which provide dedicated health insurance plans to cover them. Then there are other policies where critical illness cover can be added in the form of a rider. To best secure your parents, you must look out for one such plan. 

Apart from that, you can always opt for a critical illness cover to complement the health insurance policy. This will secure your parents against expenses related to major chronic ailments such as kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, cancers, and so on.

Compare health insurance plans – Even though health insurance covers are quite similar, they may still bear differences from company to company in terms of premiums and features. Hence, whenever heading to buy a health insurance policy, it is always smart to compare the various plans first. 

Thanks to the advent of digital, you can now compare as well as purchase health insurance online. This just makes the entire process a lot more convenient. Last but definitely not least,you can opt for a family health insurance plan that would cover both your parents and you, or you could buy them individual senior citizen policies. Shortlist from the available options, compare, analyze, and then move forward with buying a health insurance plan that will be beneficial for your parents.

Read more news:

Facing insomnia? Try these to avoid it

Smartphone addiction may signify a 'hyper-social' behaviour