Best Medical Insurance Plans for Parents

Taking care of our parents is a responsibility that we gladly take on. The fingers that we once held to feel safe, hold ours now. Keeping them physically and mentally healthy becomes our primary concern. Unfortunately, while the intentions are always there, sometimes, our financial strings hold us puppets, and we fail to provide them the care they deserve.

Well, regarding their emotional well-being, taking them out for movies, sending them on trips, and spending quality time with them - are your responsibility. However, on the physical well-being aspect, with health insurance for parents, their emergency medical requirements are covered.

Now, when it comes to health insurance for your parents, it’s a significant financial decision that will directly influence their quality of medical care. So, it’s time to make sure that you keep your eyes wide open before purchasing the plan.

(You see, we don’t want you squinting your eyes to read those teeny-tiny Terms and Conditions in your health insurance plans!)  Read on!

What is health insurance for parents?

Medical insurance for parents is significant funding offered to policyholders that cover medical emergencies for your parents.

Remember:

It’s always best to purchase health insurance plans for your parents at the earliest.

As they age, you will look at high premiums due to

1. Health complications,
2. Higher chances of payout due to hospitalizations, and
3. Added loading charges over pre-existing medical conditions.

Additionally, your parents will have to sit out the waiting period when they might need the funding the most.

Now, health insurance plans for parents can either be -

1. An individual health insurance plan that covers each parent separately
2. A family health insurance plan that covers both your parents.

With age, our health deteriorates significantly. Under such circumstances, frequent hospitalization, numerous diagnostic tests, and minor/major medical procedures & surgeries are common. During these medical emergencies, the health insurance plan becomes a financial security net, safeguarding your savings, which can be utilized elsewhere.

Again, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There are multiple other perks of availing of health insurance plans for parents! On the other hand, unfortunately, there are a few pitfalls to health insurance plans for senior citizens too. So, take a quick look and weigh the pros and cons before finalizing your decision.

Why should you avail of a health insurance policy for parents?

Your savings

The general global economy, as always, has undergone major inflation. Subsequently, the medical world is also experiencing a spike in charges and costs. Realistically speaking, developing even a piggy bank savings habit during such times is cumbersome. This makes it difficult to stay financially prepped for medical emergencies. So, under any medical distress, you are stuck with either -

• Compromising the quality of healthcare
• Bargaining with the list of monthly expenses & doing away with some.

The 1st one will only abase your health conditions (which in the case of your parents, they can’t afford). The 2nd one will push you into further dire financial conditions.

On the other hand, even with small monthly savings (that add up to a substantial amount over the year), you can opt for the best medical insurance for parents (and a family health insurance plan for the rest of your family or an individual health insurance plan for yourself, if possible). This will safeguard your savings, allowing you to invest them for returns or simply for FDs and/or RDs for assured returns.

Tax benefits

Have you read our blog on Section 80D and how it financially benefits health insurance policyholders? One look at it, and you will know this -

• Much like any health insurance plan, with mediclaim for parents too, policyholders can claim tax benefits on premiums up to INR 25,000.
• When you purchase a health insurance policy for your senior citizen parents, this tax benefit threshold goes up to INR 50,000. This is beneficial, considering that premiums for senior citizen health insurance plans are spiked.

Home care perks & daycare procedure coverage

As your parents grow older, there is a higher chance that they might require medical attention right from the comfort of their home. While this means that hospitalization charges are no longer a concern, on the other hand, this also means you will be looking to fund expenses involving -

• Hiring 24*7 medical assistants/nurses.
• Renting cutting-edge medical equipment.
• Frequent diagnostic test charges
• Periodic physician visits & fees

With a suitable policy from a reputed health insurance company in India, you can reap the benefits of a lucrative feature: domiciliary coverage. Under this perk, fundings are available for medical treatments carried out from the comfort of one’s home if the policyholder is immobile, aged, disabled, or hospital beds are unavailable.

Moreover, when it comes to individuals in their golden years, a few short medical procedures like cataract surgery are unavoidable. With the best health insurance in India for parents, you can bank on its daycare treatment feature to fund these procedures that do not require hospitalization.

Pre-and Post-Hospitalization Coverage

Even if you cough up the hospital bill amount if either of your parents is hospitalized, the expenses don’t start and end with it. Before the hospitalization, there will be several diagnostic tests to determine the current status of his/her ailment. Post-hospitalization will include diagnostic tests, follow-up doctor visits, medication, and more. So, the entire sum becomes a significant financial burden.

The solution is availing of the best health insurance policies offering significant pre- and post-hospitalization coverage. Click to learn more about the perk and what kind of coverage you can get for your parents.

Free annual health check-ups

Irrespective of the individual's age, annual health check-ups are a great medical measure that helps in the -

1. Early diagnosis of an ailment,
2. Early adaptation of suitable treatment channels

-and, for ageing parents, such annual health check-ups are mandatory, considering their growing health complications. However, despite its necessity, it’s an extremely expensive process and often drains a significant share of one’s savings.

However, to avoid this financial strain, an optimum health insurance policy offering free annual health check-ups always comes to help. Though this is just an auxiliary feature and not a deciding factor when purchasing a health insurance plan, the presence of this perk in your medical policy for parents is a significant financial bump for you.

What are the drawbacks of the mediclaim policy for parents?

(All the drawbacks mentioned below can be easily avoided if you purchase the best health insurance for parents at the earliest.)

In the case of health insurance for parents above 50, here are a few pitfalls that you need to be aware of -

High premiums

As policyholders grow older, health insurers look at them as high-risk cases with increased chances of payouts. Hence they boost the premiums to the plan considerably. Additionally, due to the pre-existing medical conditions of your parents, they include a loading charge on their premiums.

Risks of rejection

While with the best health insurance providers, policies are usually offered to a majority of the policyholders; there are a few cases in which the insurer rejects the potential policyholder. This might be because the potential individual has some pre-existing critical ailment not covered by the insurer, among other reasons.

In such a case, make sure to take the health insurance coverage for the other parent as an individual policy. While you will be spending out of your pocket for one parent’s medical requirements, at least the other parent will be covered.

Mandatory copayment clauses

When you approach an insurance provider, you might hear them say, “the premiums for such aged policyholders are usually pretty steep. However, the premium will significantly decrease if you agree to take a 25% copayment.”

Don’t ever fall for that trap!

You think you will be saving over your premiums, but you will be losing much more than that via your copayment in health insurance. Head to our blog to learn how and why you should avoid this commonly offered feature in health insurance plans.

Best Health Insurance Plan for Parents

Conclusion

While choosing health insurance for parents, always remember, you are catering to two purposes -

1. Ensuring the quality of healthcare that your parents will avail.
2. Safeguarding your savings for alternate requirements.

So, reach out to an expert advisor or avail of a free health insurance plan comparison tool before purchasing a policy.