When you start looking for health insurance plans in the market, you will notice there are myriad options from which you can choose from. Different plans target different age groups. While some plans are designed to provide coverage across all ages, these plans are popular as a family floater policy.
Such plans that cover the entire family at times may not be sufficient. As increasing age comes with rising health concerns, a family floater policy might prove to be insufficient for the young members of the family as the elderly parents shall consume most of the limit. Moreover, when you select health insurance plans, extra care must be taken in order to have coverage for a wider range of ailments.
Is it necessary to have an independent insurance cover?
While your employers’ group health policy is an easy option to insure your parents, it may not be able to cover in full all the ailments that might arise in old age. Thus at such times, combining a group cover with a standalone insurance policy is necessary. Since group insurance plans do not exclude pre-existing diseases, these plans come handy when combined with a standalone individual policy. This way, you can ensure that your parents are covered even when the waiting period for your independent policy is in force.
The earlier you purchase health insurance plans for your parents, the lower are the premiums, and better are its benefits. Most insurance policies have a co-payment clause at a higher age. To avoid this lifelong co-payment liability, you should avail a policy at the earliest for your parents.
While a standalone policy is essential for your parents, let us look at a few other plans that can help select the best plans for your parents –
Group Health Policies: The group insurance policies offered by employers give an option to enhance the coverage to include other members of your family. This way, you can add your parents to your corporate health insurance. Moreover, the extra coverage can be opted for a nominal price, thereby making it an economical option. The only caveat to entirely relying on a group insurance policy is that it ceases to provide cover the moment you switch jobs.
Senior Citizens Policy: In case your parents fall in the higher age group of senior citizens, you can also opt for dedicated health insurance for senior citizens policy. In this policy, the waiting periods are reduced when compared to your standard health covers. The flipside is a co-payment clause where you shall be required to pay a certain percentage as pre-decided in case of any hospitalisation.
Top Up Plans: In case you are tight on your budget, standalone health insurance for parents can be replaced using top up plans. Adding your insurance policy with top upor even purchasing a standalone top up health insurance cover can be useful while filing claims that require you having a high sum insured.
Apart from the above, health insurance plans for family are an alternative where you can include your parents. One must remember to select a higher sum assured & ensure that all members are adequately covered under such plans to reap its benefits.
