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Brief Guide to Choosing the Best Healthcare Insurance Policies for Parents

By Juhi Walia
30 September 2022, 11:39 AM

In India, health insurance for parents has become quite mandatory and an integral part of coverage plans. These plans usually fall under the purview of group health, pension, and many other integrated policies framed for salary-dependent individuals. 

Although, today, health insurance plans have become an integral part of each individual, and when insurance concerns the parent, people explore more details relating to the returns and other additional facilitation. Today there is an immense increase in the cost of insurance policies and their coverage schemes.

There are multiple considerations that must be kept in mind while selecting the appropriate health insurance policies. Further in this article, we will discuss the methods and points to select the best and appropriate health insurance plans for your parents. Let us start: 

Why Do Parents Require Appropriate Health Insurance?

Today, it has become easy to compare health insurance digitally with a technology-driven approach. One of the substantial advantages of buying a health insurance plan for parents has become mandatory to avail financial support and act as an alternative for consistent income. 

In addition, with the family senior member's challenging health situation, all the financial hardship is handled by the cashless health insurance plans. Health insurance plans play a crucial role in supporting senior citizens in avoiding such circumstances. They act as the medium to ensure constant income and savings to provide needful income whenever the parents need it. 

Below are some reasons that state the requirement to buy compatible health insurance for parents. Let us discuss: 

1. Growing Healthcare Expenses

Today there are substantial improvements in technology and medical science, which consistently raise the cost of medical treatment and facilitation. All these costs collectively are enormous to impact life savings with an unpredicted medical emergency. 

Hence, experts advise buying health insurance with comprehensive health coverage in modern insurance plans to avoid such circumstances. It is advised to take these healthcare insurance plans at an early age, which would benefit the long term with good returns. 

2. Meticulous Health Care

Multiple health insurance benefits cover comprehensive health conditions, including medical examination, tests, and additional diagnoses. The appropriate health insurance policies cover hospitalisation expenses, medical tests, procedures, and medicines.  

Adapting healthcare insurance plans secures the post and pre-hospitalisation expenses like regular health check-up coverage, ambulance coverage, day-care and nursing, surgery, and other similar healthcare expenses. Specific inclusive healthcare insurance plans cover the medicines and associate diagnostic tests under the healthcare plan coverage.

3. Inadequate Assistance From Organizations

The modern organisation provides specific types of health insurance with particular medical treatment and facilities coverage. People availing healthcare insurance allowances from employers depend entirely on them and avoid buying broad healthcare insurance policies. Although, many of the employer-supportive mediclaim plans offer inadequate advantages. 

Specific terms and conditions are associated with it that an individual must follow to avail of the benefits and claims. The mediclaim provides definitive expense coverage under a specific which might not be enough for availing the complete and best-in-class medical treatment for parents. 

Hence with rising healthcare expenses, the requirement of a top-up health insurance plan and independent medical insurance policies for your parents provides you with a higher insured sum with comprehensive coverage of medical treatment and additional facilities.

4. Rising Lifestyle Ailments

The current lifestyle presents multiple health conditions and specific challenges concerning his parent's health. The recent Covid-19 phase is one of the best examples of this. In previous times people adopted healthcare insurance policies after the age of 60. But people are dealing with immense strain and stress due to work-life imbalance and extensive performance pressure of modern life. 

All these disorders and imbalances lead to numerous healthcare complications, which impact rapidly with increasing age. Hence it becomes critical to buy health insurance early to provide additional protection to the dependents and manage the expenses comfortably.

5. Tax Benefits

The government today provides additional tax benefits for healthcare policies. For the healthcare insurance policies for senior citizens, the government offers section 80D of the Income Tax Act, which provides tax exclusion on specific plans. Senior citizens or dependents parents above the age of 60 years can avail tax deductions of up to INR 50,000.

Tips for Selecting the Best Healthcare Insurance Policy for Parents

There are essential aspects to consider while selecting the best healthcare policy for parents. According to the statistics, healthcare insurance in India is constantly rising, with overall insurance costs up to 18% yearly. Moreover, with multiple cost-limiting methods, many employers are paving the path to adopting co-payment methods from existing salary schedules and insurance patterns. 

Furthermore, while searching the health insurance for the parents, the selection must be under specific considerations for improved coverage and returns for your parents. Although there is a limited option under multiple types of health insurance for seniors, it does not mean settling for whatever is available in the market. Let us have a look at some of the crucial aspects to consider while selecting the insurance policy: 

1. Check the Satisfactory Coverage

In healthcare insurance policies, there is no limit on coverage. People adopt it according to financial stability and affordability. Hence, while selecting the health insurance plan for your parents, calculate the maximum coverage and premium to be paid. 

The ideal healthcare policies cover the medical and additional facilitation under the plans with emergency support. Hence examine the comprehensive health insurance policy to the core with the best valuation for your parents.

2. Advanced and Flexible Facilities

The healthcare policies provide numerous policies offering a distinct level of flexibility. Always select the healthcare policies which provide substantial and sustainable flexibility concerning the additional covers, tenure, insured sum, mandatory coverage, etc.

3. Co-payments Structure

Flexible co-payments are an integral part of healthcare policies. Select the insurer charging the lowest co-payments for payment with premium. Copays make healthcare policies affordable and adaptable to a massive extent.

4. Select the Pre-active Ailment Coverage

When selecting the healthcare insurance policies, ensure they cover all the active diseases and health conditions that the parents and currently dealing with the routine treatment. Specific selected policies only offer coverage of selected health conditions or diseases diagnosed.

5. Renewal Age

It is an aspect that ultimately depends on the different terms and conditions of the healthcare insurance policies. Many health insurance companies offer renewal for their entire life. Hence, discuss these details with the insurer and understand the specific alternatives.

Conclusion 

These are crucial details to remember when selecting healthcare insurance policies for parents. The market is flooded with a plethora of healthcare policy options. You only have to be aware of the terms and conditions of the selected policy and match them with the parent's health condition. Select the policy by understanding the coverage returns, facilities, and premium calculation to avail maximum advantage of healthcare insurance. Hope the article provides you with the desired information according to the requirement!

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FAQs

1. Can I buy the insurance plan for my parents on my behalf?

Yes, you can buy the insurance plan on your parent's behalf and be involved in the plan as their first and prime nominee. You can also select individual insurance policies for your parents. 
 

2. Do I get any value-added services in the health insurance policies of my parents?

Yes, many facilities, such as regular health monitoring services, tele calling consultancy, free health check-ups, etc., are offered with parents' insurance policies. 

3. I have corporate mediclaim from my organisation for my dependents; do I need a separate insurance plan for my parents?

You can check the coverage limit and inclusive for the mediclaim matching your parents' health condition and treatment. A separate insurance policy is better than eliminating complex corporate terms and conditions. 
 

4. What is the claim process of insurance plans?

Almost all insurance policies have a hassle-free and simplified claiming process. You just have to submit the original bills and mandatory documents mentioned to submit your claim. 
 

5. Do I get any tax benefits when I take the insurance policy for my parents?

Yes, you indeed get the tax benefits as according to Income Tax Act, premium payment in any health insurance for parents is tax deductible up to an additional amount of INR 25,000 if your parents are less than 60 years of age and up to INR 50,000 if any of your parents are more than 60 years of age.
 

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