Insure Your Parents - Essential Guide to Health Insurance Coverage
Insure Your Parents - Essential Guide to Health Insurance Coverage
With the ever-increasing cost of healthcare facilities, health insurance is no longer considered an expense; it is rather an investment you make to safeguard your hard-earned savings. Covid taught us how a trip to the hospital could quickly eat up everything you may have saved over the years. Be it young or adult, health insurance is indeed a necessity.
While there’s no denying that health insurance is imperative, buying the right coverage, especially for your parents, is like getting stuck in a labyrinth. Navigating through the health insurance companies, finding the right plan, opting for the best-possible coverage and then trying to fit it into your budget is complicated.
Keep in mind that the process of covering your parents under health insurance coverage is simple, but as there are many options when it comes to buying health insurance for parents, a lot of proactive digging is required on your part. First, you need to decide whether you would add your parents to your existing health insurance plan or buy a separate one. Apart from this, you also need to analyse the waiting period for any pre-existing diseases your parents may have to serve when they are added to a policy.
Getting in touch with your current health insurance provider or a new one if you are not completely satisfied with the current one is just the first step you need to take to cover your parents. Your insurer would offer you the best possible options. However, choosing the one most suitable for you is crucial. To make a well-informed decision, read on.
When buying health insurance for your parents, you generally have two options:
- Including them in your coverage
- Buying a separate policy
On the face of it, it may seem that having one policy for the whole family is a better idea, but it isn’t so. Yes, you would have to pay two different premiums, but despite that, it is recommended that you invest in a separate policy for your parents.
Why prefer a senior citizen health insurance plan?
The thumb rule for determining the health insurance premium is, “The higher the age, the more the premium.” Older people are more at risk of being physically unwell; the premium is often higher. So, if your parents are above 60, it is highly recommended that you opt for a different health insurance plan for them.
Let us take a quick look at the various benefits of buying a separate health insurance plan for your parents:
- A separate health plan means more coverage and a bigger sum insured for your parents, as they don’t have to share it with you.
- Tax benefits under Section 80D can be claimed for the insurance premium.
- Some companies offer a No Claim Bonus when you don’t make a claim. Acquiring/ maintaining NCB may be difficult with parents in the same plan. With a separate plan, your personal NCB will not be affected.
- Most health plans come with an entry age. So, even if your parents