What is Senior Citizen Health Insurance?
Senior Citizen Health Insurance is a type of health insurance plan that covers medical expenses incurred by people above 60 years old. It offers preventive health check-up facilities to the elderly and cashless hospitalization at network hospitals of the insurance company. It covers pre-existing diseases, hospitalization expenses, critical illness, and pre and post hospitalization expenses and coronavirus treatment.
Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plans at a Glance
The following table shows the characteristics of most senior citizen health insurance plans that are available to buy on Policybazaar.com:
| Categories | Specifications |
| Minimum Entry Age | 60 years and above |
| Maximum Entry Age | No age limit |
| Cashless Claims | Available at network hospitals |
| Preventive Health Check-ups | Available |
| Renewability | Lifetime |
| Long Term Policy Benefit | Up to 12.5% savings on a 2-year plan |
| Tax Benefits | Up to Rs 75,000 in a financial year (Under section 80D of the IT Act) |
Checklist to Buy the Best Health Insurance Plans for Senior Citizens
Given below is the checklist to buy the best senior citizen health insurance policy:
- Opt for Plans with Lower Pre-existing Diseases Waiting PeriodSenior citizens have a higher chance of developing a medical condition. Therefore, you must opt for a health plan that covers pre-existing diseases after a smaller waiting period of 1 or 2 years.
- Go for Insurers with Large Number of Network HospitalsElderly people are more vulnerable to diseases and may have to be frequently hospitalized. Hence, you must buy a senior citizen health policy that comes with a cashless hospitalization benefit. This will allow your elderly parents to get cashless treatment at a network hospital as the bill amount will be paid by the insurance company.
- Choose Plans with Free Medical Check-up FacilityA timely diagnosis of a disease can help save the patient’s life and regular medical check-ups are the only way to diagnose a disease at an early stage. Therefore, you must prefer a health insurance policy that offers free medical check-up facilities to senior citizens.
- Go for Plans with No Claim Bonus BenefitMake sure to opt for a senior citizen health insurance policy that comes with no claim bonus benefit. This benefit increases your policy sum insured by a fixed percentage if no claims are raised in the previous year without hiking your premium.
- Opt for No Co-PaymentA lot of senior citizen health insurance plans have an in-built co-payment clause that requires you to pay a fixed percentage of the claim amount. Hence, you should choose a plan that does not come with any co-payment clause.
- Go for Domiciliary Treatment CoverSometimes, a sick elderly person may have to avail medical treatment at home in case of a delicate health situation or shortage of hospital beds. Thus, you must prefer buying a health plan for senior citizens that covers the cost of domiciliary hospitalization.
- Choose Plans with Day Care ProceduresUsually, health insurance plans offer coverage for in-patient hospitalization of at least 24 hours. However, not all medical procedures require a 24-hour hospitalization, such as chemotherapy, dialysis, radiation, etc. Therefore, you must opt for a policy that covers day care procedures.
- Opt for Lifetime RenewabilityAs the age of senior citizens increases, health insurance becomes expensive for them. Hence, you must opt for a health insurance policy that comes with lifetime renewability so that you do not have to look for another policy for your parents in their old age.