Best Health Insurance For Senior Citizens

Senior citizens get many concessions. Railway tickets are discounted for senior citizens, fixed deposit interest rates are higher, their tax-free income limit is higher, etc. These concessions are mainly because when you are older you have a limited income to spend. While your spending limit is limited, health ailments are not. In older ages, our bodies develop many different types of ailments. Since medical costs are very high, facing such high costs with a low spending limit is difficult. So, what is the solution?

A senior citizen health insurance plan is the solution. Health insurance companies have designed specialized health plans meant for senior citizens aged above 60 years. These plans cover you in your older ages and provide coverage suitable for your health-related requirements.

The health insurance market has various senior citizen health insurance plans. Do you know how to find the best plan? If you want to find the best senior citizen health plan, look for the following factors:

• The coverage features

In older age, there are many ailments and health complications, which might grip you. To ensure coverage for the maximum ailments you should choose a plan which has the most comprehensive coverage features. Look out for plans, which have Sum Insured restoration feature, coverage for AYUSH treatments (i.e. Ayurvedic, homeopathic), domiciliary hospitalization, etc. besides the normal coverage benefits like in-patient treatment, pre and post-hospitalization treatment. These additional coverage features would enhance the scope of your plan’s coverage.

• Lower sub-limits

Since health risks are higher in older age, some of the health insurance plans have sub-limits on the amount of coverage available. Certain benefits like Room rent, ICU room rent, coverage for specific illnesses, etc. have sub-limits. These sub-limits limit your coverage and you might be forced to pay the exceeding expenses from your pocket. So, look for senior citizen health plans which have lower sub-limits so that you can lower your out-of-pocket expenses and enjoy higher claim settlements.

• Low pre-existing waiting period

This is a common clause in all health insurance plans. If you suffer from any illnesses when buying a health insurance policy, coverage is not available for such illnesses in the initial years. This period when coverage is not available is called the pre-existing waiting period. Senior citizen health plans are no different. They also have a waiting period. You should look for a plan which has the lowest waiting period so that your existing illnesses are covered at the earliest.

• Lower co-pay

Co-payment is a common feature in a senior citizen health plan. The co-pay ratio represents the amount of the claim which is payable by the policyholder himself. This ratio is pre-determined and mentioned in the plan details. Whenever you make a claim in your health insurance plan, the specified portion of the claim would have to be paid by you. For instance, if your senior citizen health plan has a co-pay ratio of 20%, in case of a claim of Rs.1 lakh, Rs.20,000 would have to be paid by you. Since co-pay is your out-of-pocket expense, the best senior citizen health plan would be the one that has the lowest co-pay ratio.

• The No Claim Bonus in the plan

If you do not make a claim in a policy year, your health plan rewards you by either giving a premium discount in the next year’s premium or by increasing your Sum Insured at the same premium. Plans that increase the Sum Insured are best as they enhance your coverage without pinching your pockets. Choose plans, which allow the highest increase in Sum Insured as a Claim Bonus reward.

If you look for these points you can avail the best senior citizen health insurance plan for yourself or your parents. To find the best plan you should compare the available plans thoroughly. The online medium allows you to compare senior citizen health insurance plans. You can go online and visit an insurance aggregator or an online broker for comparing the plans. Coverfox is an online broker which not only allows you to compare senior citizen health plans, it also provides you complete assistance to find and buy the best plan from the lot. Moreover, the platform also has a dedicated claim-handling department, which assists you at the time of a claim.

So, compare the best health insurance for senior citizens on the points mentioned above and buy the one which is the best.