Health Insurance Plan for Parents

Navigating the complex world of health insurance can be particularly challenging when looking for the right coverage for your parents. With the myriad options available, finding the best health insurance for parents necessitates understanding their specific health needs and the various plans offered. Whether you're seeking health insurance for parents online or researching the best medical insurance policy for parents in India, it is crucial to compare the benefits, coverage limits, and exclusions of different parents health insurance plans to ensure they receive the optimal protection as they age. This guide aims to equip you with the information needed to make an informed decision regarding health insurance plans for parents.

Health insurance is a type of insurance coverage that pays for medical and surgical expenses incurred by the insured. It can reimburse the insured for expenses incurred from illness or injury or pay the care provider directly. For parents, especially, choosing the right health insurance plan is crucial to safeguard against unforeseen medical costs and ensure comprehensive healthcare coverage.

• Financial Security: Health insurance provides a safety net against high medical costs, protecting parents from depleting their savings on unexpected health issues.

• Access to Quality Healthcare: With the right health insurance plan, parents can access a wide network of top hospitals and healthcare professionals, ensuring they receive the best medical treatment available.

• Preventive Care: Many health insurance plans for parents include preventive services, encouraging regular health check-ups and early detection of diseases, leading to better health outcomes.

• Peace of Mind: Knowing they have a reliable health insurance plan allows parents to enjoy peace of mind, reducing stress about potential health-related financial burdens.

• Customised Plans: The best medical insurance policies for parents in India are customisable, allowing them to choose covers that best suit their health needs and financial capabilities, ensuring a tailor-made safety net.

By investing in suitable health insurance for parents online, parents can significantly mitigate financial risks associated with medical emergencies and ensure they receive the best possible care without worrying about the costs.

Health insurance for parents is quite important because it pays for;

• Hospitalization Expenses: Nursing charges, room charges, bed charges, doctor & ICU fees.
• Mental Healthcare: Hospitalization expenses involving treatment for certain mental illnesses.
• Pre & Post Hospitalisation: All medical expenses 30 days before hospitalisation & 90 days after hospitalisation.
• Day Care Treatments: Medical treatment expenses requiring hospitalisation for less than 24 hours.
• Specific diseases: Cover offered on specific diseases within certain predefined limits.
• Home Healthcare: Due bed non-availability, if medical treatment has to be done at home on doctor’s approval.
• Cover Amount Recharge: A recharge happens once, when your current health cover amount is over.
• Organ Donor Costs: If you find a suitable organ donor, the policy covers the organ donor expenses.
• Recovery Benefit: If you’re hospitalized for more than 10 days, the policy pays for financial losses due to your absence at home.
• AYUSH Benefits: Pays for Homeopathy, Siddha, Unani & Ayurvedic hospitalization expenses.
• Free Health Check-Up: Get a totally free health check-up once every year.
• Lifelong Renewability: Once you buy the parents health insurance, you can renew it for lifetime.

Here are the facilities that have not been included in health insurance plans for parents

• Pre-existing illnesses before waiting period
• Any Illnesses within 30 days of policy purchase
• Self-inflicted injuries
• Drug abuse
• Dental treatment
• Lenses or spectacles
• Injuries due to war
• Treatment of AIDS
• Cosmetic surgery

There are mainly two ways through which you can make a claim. One is a cashless claim & the other is a reimbursement claim.

Cashless Claim in Health Insurance For Parents

• Form Filling Fill the pre-authorization form at the hospital for cashless approval
• Approval or Rejection Once a hospital informs the insurance company, you get a status update.
• Hospitalisation Hospitalisation is done based on the pre-authorization approval
• Claim Settlement The insurance company directly settles the claim with the hospital during discharge.

Reimbursement Claim in Health Insurance for Parents

• Hospitalisation You pay the hospital bills first & keep the original bills with you.
• Registering Claim After discharge you submit your bills & documents to the insurance company
• Verification The insurance company verifies your claim through the submitted documents.
• Claim Settlement The insurance company transfers the approved claim amount to your bank account.

• Deduction on annual health check-ups:
  Tax exemption benefits provided on OPD consultation fees & diagnostic tests. You can get tax benefits even when you pay in cash.

• Deduction on the premium paid for health insurance for parents:
  Expenses due to annual health check-ups are entitled for tax benefits. The tax exemption limit here is 5,000/-.

• Tax Benefit is higher on Health Insurance for parents:
  Premium can be claimed for a tax deduction of up to 50,000/-. Tax deduction limit for costs related to specific illnesses of parents is up to 1,00,000/-.

• Tax Benefits provided on Single Premium Health Insurance Plans:
  As per IT laws, the health plan premium you pay for a multi-year plan as a lump sum amount is entitled for a tax deduction. This happens under Section 80D. The tax-deductible amount is completely based on the total premium amount paid for the policy term. This is subjected to the limits of 25,000/- or 50,000/-.

Please note: (Source: that the above-mentioned benefits are as per the current tax laws prevailing in the country. Your tax benefits may change subject to tax laws. It is advisable to reconfirm the same with your tax consultant. This is independent of your health insurance premium value.)

• Trusted Insurance Company: Always select a health insurance provider with a good reputation. Look at the customer based & claim settlement ratio.
• Check The Waiting Periods: Waiting periods are periods that need to get over, before you start claiming. Always buy health insurance plans with lower waiting periods especially for pre-existing diseases..
• No Room Rent Limit: Choose a plan that doesn’t have a room rent cap or limit. This way you can avail treatment even in a single private AC room.
• Huge Network Of Hospitals: Always check all the major hospitals near you and in your city are covered in the list of the insurance company’s network hospitals.
• Affordability: If you don’t want to buy high end plans, then go for low premium plans. However, they have co-payment which means you will have to pay at least 30% of the hospital bill by yourself.
• It’s always a good idea to get a high cover amount because the medical inflation is increasing at a rate of 15% annually.