Royal Sundaram Lifeline Elite vs TATA AIG Medicare Senior

With a co-payment clause, the insurer will mandate that you pay a part of the bill. So if the bill adds up to Rs. 2,00,000 and the co-payment is set at 20% then you could be asked to pay Rs. 40,000 from the bill. In this case, however, Lifeline Elite doesn’t impose a co-payment clause whereas Medicare Senior imposes a mandatory co payment of 85% if you opt for shared room and 70% if you opt for any other room.

If the policy does impose room rent restrictions then the insurer may only let you stay in a room of a certain specification or impose a cap on the total room rent. If you were to breach either criterion then the insurance company may ask you to pay a portion of all the expenses you incurred while staying in the room. In this case, however, you can pick any room you want with Lifeline Elite but Medicare Senior only lets you stay in a shared room.

Some policies will tell you that they will cover all medical expenses up until the sum insured, but then impose caps on the total costs you can incur while dealing with a very specific list of diseases. We call these caps “Disease Wise Sub Limits.” In this case, Lifeline Elite doesn’t impose a disease wise sub-limit whereas Medicare Senior imposes disease-wise sub-limits on Cataract, Joint Replacement, Hernia, Hysterectomy, Benign Prostate surgery.

If you’re suffering from a lifestyle condition or if you’ve had surgery in the past, or if you’re dealing with an acute or chronic illness at the time of buying the policy, then the insurer may classify this as a pre-existing disease. And they may tell you that they will only cover these illnesses after some time. In this case, Lifeline Elite imposes a waiting period of 2 years on pre-existing diseases while Medicare Senior extends a waiting period of 4 years on existing conditions.

Most people aren’t hospitalized right off the bat. Instead, they’ll have to go through a whole series of diagnostic tests before hospitalization and take medication post-discharge. These costs are outlined as pre-hospitalization expenses and post-hospitalization expenses respectively. In this case, Lifeline Elite covers expenses incurred 60 days before hospitalization and expenses incurred 180 days post-hospitalization. Meanwhile, Medicare Senior covers expenses incurred 30 days before hospitalization and expenses incurred 60 after hospitalization, although there may be different sub-limits

Some policies will tell you that they will incentivize you for not making a claim in any given year. And they offer such incentives by offering extra cover on top of the existing sum insured. This extra cover is categorized as a no-claim bonus. In this case, however, Lifeline Elite offers a no-claim bonus whereas Medicare Senior doesn’t offer a no-claim bonus.

Imagine you are forced to treat yourself at home because you don’t find a hospital bed, or you have a chronic condition that prevents you from visiting one, then, insurers may choose to cover your treatment even if you’re hospitalized at home. And such costs are collectively categorized as domiciliary treatment costs. In this case, however, Lifeline Elite offers domiciliary cover. And Medicare Senior also coves domiciliary expenses.

Most policies only cover treatments administered in a registered medical facility. However, on some occasions, you may want to pursue alternative treatments including homoeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. These treatments are collectively categorized as Ayush treatments. And in this case Lifeline Elite covers Ayush treatments whereas Medicare Senior doesn’t extend coverage for Ayush treatments.

If you’re hospitalized during childbirth, then you may have to incur significant costs during delivery of your newborn, child care and other related matters during the course of the hospitalization. These costs are collectively termed maternity costs. And in this case, however, Lifeline Elite offers maternity cover whereas Medicare Senior doesn’t offer protection for maternity-related hospitalizations.

Doctor visits and regular consultations aren’t usually covered by health insurance policies. They are categorized as Outpatient consultations (or OPD treatments) and patients have to bear the cost on their own. In this case, however, Lifeline Elite offers OPD cover whereas Medicare Senior doesn’t offer OPD protection.