Need Medical Insurance For Parents? Here’s What You Need To Know
Healthcare can be financially draining, be it for oneself or family that is dependent on them. With the additional margins of inflation that persist in medicine and hospitalization costs alongside the rise in various lifestyle-oriented diseases; one has to find the best medical insurance and their ideal version of a coverage plan that can mitigate the possibilities of having to forego treatment because of high costs or pay from one’s future savings. Choosing the correct medical insurance plans today is a non-negotiable life-decision for people who wish to have access to adequate healthcare coverage, especially in their fifties when they are more prone to illnesses and injuries.
Health insurance plans are insurance instruments that cover medical costs incurred in the course of a prolonged hospitalization, and costs post discharge as well. One may choose from an individual health plan, a family plan, medical insurance for parents and critical illness insurance plans.
Old age can be a difficult time to navigate, and a policyholder may require the assistance of a medical insurance plan to help support the recurrent medical requirements of their parents. Knowing this reality, insurance providers like Care Health Insurance seek to tailor plans for the policyholder who seek medical insurance for their parents which will enable extensive coverage along with prompt and hassle-free claims.
The need to safeguard one’s parents from emotional and financial distress is something many policyholders seek. Therefore, let us look at the things to know about medical insurance for parents.
- Coverage: Health Insurance for senior citizens offers complete end-to-end coverage against hospitalization costs, ambulance fees, including pre and post-op care and even domiciliary costs. According to the necessities of the policyholder, they can avail coverage for invasive surgical procedures.
- Pre-Existing Disease: As medical insurance for parents is designed for older insured individuals, one can avail coverage for pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease after the waiting period as stipulated by the provider has lapsed.
- Cashless Claim Facility: Some insurance providers have specific hospitals and treatment centres listed within their policy as policy partners in providing a seamless claim process for the policyholder. Cashless hospitalization is one of those features under which the policyholder can claim a cashless payment at the hospital, which means that the insurance provider settles the medical costs directly to the partner hospital without the long process of document verifications and other formalities.
- Pre/Post Hospitalization Cover: Plans that fall under medical insurance for parents allows one to have extensive cover not just for hospitalisations, but also tests, recurrent doctor consultations and medicines.
- Sum Insured: The payments or reimbursements a policyholder may receive from insurance providers under medical insurance for parents are adequate enough to cover high-cost treatments and even post-care for the policyholder. Hence, one should go for plans that have a minimum 10 lac sum insured since medical costs have inflation margins that increase exponentially.
- Tax Benefits: Under medical insurance for parents below the age of 60, the premiums paid are deductible for up to Rs 50,000 from the net taxable income earned by the policyholder as per Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
For parents over the age of 60, the tax deductible amount is Rs 75,000.
- Renewal Age: Medical insurance for parents has the option for lifetime renewability that lasts well into and beyond retirement because that is when one is more prone to illnesses and ailments. One should keep their policies updated and renewed so as to avoid any distress caused by sudden illness or accidents.
- Co-payment: Under the co-payment clause in medical insurance for parents, the policyholder and insurance provider are required to share the costs incurred for a certain percentage of the stipulated claim amount. If one is unsure of the percentage or cost sharing, they should seek plans with ‘no co-pay’ clause.
Therefore, choosing medical insurance plans for parents is a process that requires adequate research and putting a thorough check with all conditions and exclusions before purchasing.
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