How To Pick The Best Health Insurance Plan For Parents?

The cycle of life is such that when you are born, your parents are in a position to look after you because they are healthy and earning money. Then, over some years, you grow and start becoming an earning member of your family while your parents grow older and reach retirement age. Now, like a cycle, you are responsible for caring for your parents in this old age because you are healthy and earning money. Therefore, to take care of their medical needs, buy your parents a health insurance policy and secure them and yourself from medical treatment expenses.

Things to Look For while Picking the Best Health Insurance Plan for Parents

You should look for many factors while purchasing a health plan for your parents. This difference is because the ailments and medical treatments required for them are not the same as younger adults. These plans are also known as senior citizen health plans, as they mainly cover parents above 60 years. Check out below the factors to consider while picking health insurance for parents:

1) Coverage of the Policy:

The purpose of taking a health insurance policy is to ensure that as many illnesses and treatment costs get covered by the policy. Hence, pay attention to the extent of the coverage and check out the list of diseases that the health plan will cover for your parents. Even inspect the treatment expenditures the policy will pay for while picking the best health insurance policy for parents.

2) Pre-Existing Medical Condition Coverage:

Due to their elderly age, your parents might already have some pre-existing diseases. Ensure that you check the list of existing illnesses that the policy covers and ascertain the pre-existing condition your elderly parent has is present in the list.

3) Waiting Periods of Pre-Existing Medical Condition Coverage:

Also, see the waiting period for your parent’s pre-existing medical condition because all medical policies have this waiting term. It means that even though health insurance plans for parents or senior citizens cover the medical condition that already exists, after buying the plan, you have to wait a certain period before the policy starts paying for the coverage. Usually, the waiting period for senior citizens’ pre-existing illnesses is less than the policies for younger adults.

4) Sum Insured Amount should be Sufficient:

Medical treatments are expensive, and for elderly parents, the costs are even higher due to a susceptible aged body. Therefore, it is crucial that you take the best medical insurance for parents providing ample sum insured amounts to cover every kind of expense for treatments. This way, you won’t have to strain your finances and ensure that your parents get the finest health treatments.

5) Existence of No Claim Bonus:

The existence of a no-claim bonus clause in the health insurance policy helps you to save a lot of money. This clause means that when you don’t claim any insurance coverage in a particular year, you will have to pay a lesser yearly medical insurance premium in the succeeding year.

6) Age Limitations of the Policy:

When you purchase a parental insurance policy to cover health-related expenses, ensure that you check the upper age limits it specifies. You should do this to choose a policy that lets you renew the health insurance policy up to the maximum possible age of your parents. This way, you can cover their health expenses and give them the best treatments for as long as possible.

7) Network Hospitals Covered:

Another aspect to look for while buying a medical insurance plan for your parents is the network of hospitals the policy covers. You should see that the usual hospital that your parents go to for any treatment or consultations is present in the list of network hospitals.

Policy Coverage to Look For while Picking the Best Health Insurance Plan for Parents

The best health insurance for parents covers most of the following features:

  • The insurance should cover all pre and post-hospitalization costs of treatments.
  • Any daycare treatment should get the coverage of the mediclaim.
  • The coverage of health insurance should provide for any yearly health check-ups.
  • In case you require the use of an ambulance, your policy should pay for such expenses.
  • When there is a need for hospitalizations, make sure that your parents have the coverage for the payment of hospital room rent with the health plan.
  • Ensure that the mediclaim policy for parents has coverage for critical illnesses like cancer, heart attacks, kidney failures and more.
  • All OPD treatments required for your parents should get the coverage of the health insurance plan.
  • The medical insurance policy for your dependent parents should cover all major surgery expenses like open heart surgery or organ transplant surgery procedures.
  • If you require providing treatment at home for your parents, the policy should be able to cover all the expenses for the treatments.
  • You should pick medical insurance for parents that covers the total cost of any organ transplant requirement, like taking care of the expenses of the organ donor.
  • Also, ensure that your policy has a cashless claims process so that you or your parents don’t have to pay for any hospitalization or medical treatment expenses from pocket.
  • The health plan should be able to cover any alternative treatment that your parents may require to take, like ayurvedic or homoeopathy treatments.
  • Make sure that the insurance policy pays all the additional expenses like diagnostic tests, doctor’s fees, laboratory expenses, nurse fees and more.

Conclusion

It is essential that you get your parents a health insurance policy, especially after they reach retirement age. This health insurance policy will help you and your parents take care of any medical expenses arising from ill health at an old age. Everyone needs to get medical treatment at some point in life, and this requirement is even more with the growing age when a health insurance plan can come to the rescue. It will not cause you any financial pressures or burden for the treatment of health issues for everyone in the family.