Can senior citizens purchase health insurance?
Age is a natural phenomenon, but it is hardly the golden phase of life that one envisages. One contracts several ailments as one ages, and paying for treatment can become impossible when one is retired without an income.
I am a senior citizen, can I buy health insurance?
The simple answer is: Yes. Senior citizens aged 60 years and above can certainly buy health insurance, or be covered in insurance coverage offered by family floater plans. The IRDAI mandates that those aged 60 to 75 years may certainly buy health insurance for themselves. These policies offer tax exemptions and a range of inclusions that senior citizens require, such as coverage for pre-existing illnesses, costs for blood and organ transfusions, wider network of connected hospitals, etc.
Most reputed health insurance providers in India offer entry level for buying their plans up to 65 years. Earlier, those above 65 years of age found it difficult to buy health plans, but this is no longer the case across leading insurance providers in India. There are several good policies that offer coverage up to 80 years of age, and even up to 90 years when renewed without a claim.
Most senior citizens erroneously believe that the senior citizen plans are expensive – they surmise that since they are buying the plan at a later life stage, the premium will be much higher. However, this is not true. The best plans have affordable premiums while being quite comprehensive in scope.
The most important factors to consider when buying insurance at an advanced age are:
*** Entry age allowed in the plan
*** Sum insured
*** Premium payable
*** Age of renewal
*** Which pre-existing diseases are covered
*** Does it cover alternative treatments (such as Ayurvedic or Homoeopathic)?
*** The sub-limits in the plan
*** Co-payment clause
*** The waiting period of the plan
*** Day care procedures (performed and completed without hospitalisation due to technological advances)
*** Range of benefits being offered: it should include critical illness insurance, no requirement for medical test before buying the plan, pre-existing disease cover, a large network of member hospitals, higher sum insured, cashless hospitalisation, etc.
What to consider when buying senior citizen health insurance
* Children’s company-sponsored insurance is not enough for senior citizen health care.
Though one’s child may have a company-sponsored plan that extends benefits to the family, it may not have sufficient coverage to meet the health needs of senior citizens. Indeed, most group health insurance plans offer bare minimum coverage that is quite insufficient for meeting health emergencies. It is better to have a separate family floater plan that includes parents.
* Understand what ‘pre-existing illness’ coverage means.
Though the best policies do offer pre-existing illness coverage for senior citizens, this coverage is extended only to non-critical, non-terminal illnesses. For example, it may not be extended if the person suffers from cancer or advanced stage heart disease that may turn fatal. The policy document shares the list of pre-existing illnesses covered under the plan, so these should be looked at in detail before signing up.
* Waiting period for senior citizens.
Though most health plans have a certain waiting period before which the benefits of the plan may be claimed (some may be up to two years) the senior citizens plans do not have waiting periods.
* Exclusions in the plan.
Most senior citizen plans do not include pre-existing injuries, expenses for self-inflicted injuries, substance abuse, injuries sustained in extraordinary situations like war, or diseases like AIDS, any diseases contracted within 30 days of policy purchase, cosmetic surgery costs, cost of dental treatment or buying spectacles unless these are required due to reasons of accident.
