Health Insurance for Parents: Ensuring adequate coverage

Health Insurance is a crucial investment in ensuring the financial security and well-being of a family. The medical coverage and other benefits of Health Insurance plans help mitigate financial worries during unforeseen medical emergencies or planned hospitalizations. With so many Health Insurance policies available in the market, choosing the right may be hard. It is even difficult to search for a comprehensive Health Insurance policy for parents or senior citizens.

Buying a separate Health Insurance policy for parents is primary because adding ageing parents to the existing Family Health Insurance policy has its own consequences. Usually, the premium of a Family Floater Health Insurance policy is calculated based on the age of the eldest insured person. So, if you add your parents to the existing Health Insurance plan, you might end up paying a high premium.

Moreover, senior citizens are most likely to make claims compared to younger ones, considering their age and related health risk. Such situations might also lead to inadequate coverage under a single policy if one or more insured person is hospitalized at the same time. Buying separate Health Insurance for parents offers comprehensive coverage against medical expenses and provides numerous benefits such as annual health check-ups, teleconsultations, second medical opinion, etc.

The Health Insurance providers constantly curate policy’s coverage and benefits according to the age group of individuals. Most insurers have a specially crafted Health Insurance policy for Senior Citizens which turns out to be the best option for elderly people. Such policies offer comprehensive coverage to cover the health care needs of senior citizens, such as cataract treatment, day care treatments, out-patient coverage, organ donor expenses, less PED (pre-existing diseases) waiting period, etc. Some insurers make pre-insurance medical screening mandatory, while others do not.

Check if the opted policy provides out-patient coverage, an overlooked coverage in the Health Insurance policy. People most often overlook the out-patient expenses, which can sum up and lead to major out-of-pocket expenses. Taking age into consideration, elderly people may require frequent out-patient visits. A policy with out-patient coverage will cut out-of-pocket expenses and ensure adequate medical coverage and quality treatment at the right time.

In that regard, Star Health Premier Insurance Policy is a unique policy designed to cater to the needs of people who are 50 years and above. The policy comes with an entry age of 50 years and above and does not have any upper age limit. Pre-insurance medical screening is not mandatory to avail of this policy. This aspect of the policy makes it readily available for senior citizens. Additionally, the policy is available both on Individual and floater basis.

Besides the hospitalisation expenses, the policy also provides comprehensive coverage which includes home care treatment, cataract treatment, domiciliary hospitalisation, hospice care, AYUSH treatment, Bariatric Surgery, etc. Usually, insured persons pay non-medical time expenses out-of-pocket because those expenses are not covered by most Health Insurance policies. Star Health Premier Insurance Policy provides coverage for non-medical items as well, cutting the out-of-pocket cost spent on non-medical items.

The policy also offers coverage for out-patient expenses subject to the terms and conditions of the policy document. It also comes with a shorter waiting period, which is 24 months for both pre-existing diseases and specific diseases. Along with the policy, the insured is entitled to Star Telehealth Service and Star Wellness Program. By participating in a wellness program, the insured can earn wellness points, which can be redeemed to avail discounts on renewal premiums.

Health risk increases with age. Adding your parents to your Family Health Insurance policy may affect the cumulative bonus. A bonus enhances the Sum Insured by a certain percentage for every claim-free year without additional cost. As we age, our health care needs also differ. Ensuring adequate Health Insurance coverage for parents is crucial to protect their health and well-being and to provide peace of mind.

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