A Complete Guide To How To Choose The Right Health Insurance For Parents 

Covid 19 and the growing lifestyle diseases and health problems worldwide have increased the requirement for a health insurance policy for people of all ages. As the havoc of the pandemic still continues, the demand for health insurance policies keeps increasing.

A health insurance policy covers your medical expenditures against unexpected health expenses. Due to the rising cost of healthcare, affording regular checkups and high medical costs becomes a challenge for many people. It has become crucial to buy a health insurance policy to get medical assistance in case of medical emergencies.

While it’s essential to buy health insurance for people of all age groups, the elderly people or our parents are among the most vulnerable group mandatorily requiring health insurance. Senior citizens are prone to illnesses and infections with their growing age. And they are more likely to catch critical illnesses. 

Here is a complete guide on choosing the right health insurance for your parents. 

Choosing the right plan 

There are various variants of health insurance policies in the market, and each one comes with specific coverage. Here are the most common health insurance plans:

Individual Health Plan

This plan covers only one individual’s medical expenses; only insured individuals get the coverage. This is an indemnity health insurance plan wherein the claim would be paid only in case of expenditures incurred due to hospitalisation. There is a single sum insured that is provided to the policyholder only. There are optional riders or value-added benefits you can add to make your policy more useful and suitable to your needs; for example, Niva bupa health insurance provides great riders to top up your existing plans.

Family Floater Plan

These plans are designed to provide insurance coverage to all the members of a family under a single sum insured. You can buy a Family Floater plan, and it will cover you and your parents as well as your children. Also, these plans are cheaper as compared to individual plans. You should check the policy benefits carefully to see if a family floater plan is sufficient to meet the healthcare needs of your parents.

Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan 

Specially designed for senior citizens, these plans provide health insurance coverage to elderly citizens aged 60 years and above. Since this plan is specially designed for older citizens, it includes all the necessary perks according to senior citizens’ requirements like outpatient treatment coverage, pre-existing disease coverage, etc.

Critical Illness Plan 

A critical Illness plan covers the policyholder against life-threatening critical diseases. This plan is mostly a fixed benefits plan which means the entire amount will be payable irrespective of the amount spent on hospital bills. 

Various factors you should consider before buying any policy 

Look for an adequate sum insured plan 

The sum insured is the amount that the insurance company pays to policyholders as coverage. The sum insured should be sufficient to bear the medical expenses of all the family members. If you have a low sum-insured policy, you can add top-ups or super top-ups to enhance your policy value. These would increase the sum insured over and above your primary health insurance plan. 

Search policies with comprehensive coverage 

You should know your requirements and look for policies that provide you with comprehensive coverage so that all of your parent’s medical expenses get covered under one policy. You should buy a policy that offers benefits according to their medical requirements and family medical history. 

Network hospitals of the insurance company

Various insurance companies have ties with different hospitals in their network where you can get cashless treatment. Getting treatment from them is super convenient and financially beneficial. You should choose a provider that has a network of hospitals located closer to where your parents stay so that you can easily rush to them in case of an emergency.

Pre-existing waiting period

There is a waiting period for the allowance of coverage for pre-existing illnesses. This period can range between 12 months to 48 months. If your parents suffer from a pre-existing illness, you should look for plans with a lower waiting period. 

Compare the premiums

Different companies have different premium set-ups for different insurance policies. So before buying a health insurance policy for your health insurance for parents, do consider the factors such as the coverage they offer and the premium that they charge for the same policy benefits. 

In conclusion

We hope you take care of the points mentioned above before buying health insurance for your parents. Also, do check the exclusion list of the policy for discounts on premiums while choosing an appropriate policy for your parents. 

Once you have chosen a policy to secure health insurance for parents, you can check if the plan needs updates every year at the time of renewal.