There are two kinds of health insurance policies available for senior citizens. First, comprehensive plans with an entry age of up to 65 years, which is more expensive but gives wider coverage. The second, senior citizen-specific plans, which are cost-effective but have fewer benefits.
Here are some important factors which you should consider while buying medical insurance for senior citizens.
Entry and renewal age
Most insurers offer health insurance plans with entry age of 60-80 years and a few have no entry age for these plans. Go with those plans where no entry age restrictions are there. Purchase those plans where the long-life renewability features are offered by your insurer as this varies from insurer to insurer.
Waiting period
A waiting period in a health plan is applicable to specific diseases. It usually lasts up to two to four years. Look for medical insurance with the least waiting duration and fewer number of diseases under the waiting period.
Co-payment
A co-payment clause simply means that a percentage of the hospital expenses is borne by the insured person whenever a claim comes. The co-pay is pre-decided at the time of buying the policy, could be 20-50% of the amount of the approved claim. Go for purchase those plans that have no co-payment or least co-payment.
Deductibles
The deductible is the amount you pay yourself before the policy begins to pay benefits. To reduce the premium, one can opt for deductibles instead of co-pay. Deductibles are better than co-pay since the former is a fixed amount while co-payment is a percentage of the total claim.
Exclusions
Many medical insurance policies for senior citizens come with exclusion of medical conditions or healthcare expenses that are not covered by your health plan. Read the fine print of the policy to understand which diseases are excluded from the policy. Go for the policy which has no or the minimum number of exclusions.
Limit/sub-limits
A sub-limit is a cap on how much a policyholder can claim for a particular expense/procedure. Several senior citizen mediclaim policies come with sub-limits. For example, sub-limit per day for room rent and ICU like 1% of SI per day and other limits like cataract surgery, knee-cap surgery, kidney dialysis, etc. Check what are the procedures/treatments that have sub-limits. Compare premium amount versus the benefits offered.
Restoration benefit
With senior citizens, there are chances of multiple hospitalisations in a year. The restoration feature reinstates the entire sum insured in case it gets exhausted during a policy year. Some insurers offer it after you completely exhaust the sum insured while others offer it after partial exhaustion. For example, if you have exhausted the base sum insured of `5 lakh in the first claim, you will still be eligible for `5 lakh in the second claim in the same year.
Medical check-ups
With some insurers, medical check-ups are mandatory. The insurers ask the proposed insured to fill a questionnaire before the policy proposal is accepted or rejected. The underwriters decide whether medical tests are needed based on these declarations. The cost of such medical examinations may not be fully borne by insurers.
Limitations on pre and post-hospitalisation expenses
This is the reimbursement of any expenses incurred by the policyholder before hospitalisation and after being discharged from the hospital. Typically, the pre-hospitalisation eligibility is 30-45 days and for post-hospitalisation is 60 -90 days. However, for many health insurances for senior citizens, the pre and post-hospitalisation period is less.
Number of day-care claims
Some procedures can be completed in less than 24 hours at a hospital and require no hospitalisation. Though most health insurance for senior citizens does cover day-care facilities, some plans restrict that number. Before buying any health plan, know the number of day-care facilities available under the policy.
Entry and renewal age
Most insurers offer health insurance plans with entry age of 60-80 years and a few have no entry age for these plans. Go with those plans where no entry age restrictions are there. Purchase those plans where the long-life renewability features are offered by your insurer as this varies from insurer to insurer.
Waiting period
A waiting period in a health plan is applicable to specific diseases. It usually lasts up to two to four years. Look for medical insurance with the least waiting duration and fewer number of diseases under the waiting period.
Co-payment
A co-payment clause simply means that a percentage of the hospital expenses is borne by the insured person whenever a claim comes. The co-pay is pre-decided at the time of buying the policy, could be 20-50% of the amount of the approved claim. Go for purchase those plans that have no co-payment or least co-payment.
Deductibles
The deductible is the amount you pay yourself before the policy begins to pay benefits. To reduce the premium, one can opt for deductibles instead of co-pay. Deductibles are better than co-pay since the former is a fixed amount while co-payment is a percentage of the total claim.
Exclusions
Many medical insurance policies for senior citizens come with exclusion of medical conditions or healthcare expenses that are not covered by your health plan. Read the fine print of the policy to understand which diseases are excluded from the policy. Go for the policy which has no or the minimum number of exclusions.
Limit/sub-limits
A sub-limit is a cap on how much a policyholder can claim for a particular expense/procedure. Several senior citizen mediclaim policies come with sub-limits. For example, sub-limit per day for room rent and ICU like 1% of SI per day and other limits like cataract surgery, knee-cap surgery, kidney dialysis, etc. Check what are the procedures/treatments that have sub-limits. Compare premium amount versus the benefits offered.
Restoration benefit
With senior citizens, there are chances of multiple hospitalisations in a year. The restoration feature reinstates the entire sum insured in case it gets exhausted during a policy year. Some insurers offer it after you completely exhaust the sum insured while others offer it after partial exhaustion. For example, if you have exhausted the base sum insured of `5 lakh in the first claim, you will still be eligible for `5 lakh in the second claim in the same year.
Medical check-ups
With some insurers, medical check-ups are mandatory. The insurers ask the proposed insured to fill a questionnaire before the policy proposal is accepted or rejected. The underwriters decide whether medical tests are needed based on these declarations. The cost of such medical examinations may not be fully borne by insurers.
Limitations on pre and post-hospitalisation expenses
This is the reimbursement of any expenses incurred by the policyholder before hospitalisation and after being discharged from the hospital. Typically, the pre-hospitalisation eligibility is 30-45 days and for post-hospitalisation is 60 -90 days. However, for many health insurances for senior citizens, the pre and post-hospitalisation period is less.
Number of day-care claims
Some procedures can be completed in less than 24 hours at a hospital and require no hospitalisation. Though most health insurance for senior citizens does cover day-care facilities, some plans restrict that number. Before buying any health plan, know the number of day-care facilities available under the policy.
Health insurance is a must for everyone. This little piece of wisdom has found a lot more acceptance lately due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A health insurance cover with an adequate sum assured could be an answer to unforeseen medical emergencies, not only in times of a pandemic, but also in general.
A health insurance policy provides you security by ensuring that you get the best medical care without any strain on your finances. However, a basic policy may not be enough to cover yourself comprehensively. To meet your specific needs, you could customize it using a variety of riders, or add-on benefits.
What is a rider?
A rider is simply an additional benefit that you can add to your basic health insurance policy at affordable prices to expand your coverage as per your needs. There are different types of riders available. You may want to extend your life insurance coverage, or get a policy for accidental death or disability, and critical illnesses, so that your family’s future is not affected in case of an untoward incident. Opting for a rider along with your regular policy helps you achieve that.
Room rent waiver: This rider allows you to opt for a room with a higher sub-limit, or even without any sub-limit. Generally, most policies set a maximum cap on room rent. They may provide financial cover for only standard or semi-private rooms in the insurance plan. The room rent waiver allows you to go for a room of your choice, including private and deluxe rooms, without having to pay any additional fee at the time of the admission.
Hospital cash benefit: This is among the most common riders that policyholders usually opt for. In simple terms, the hospital cash benefit rider pays daily cash to the policyholder during hospitalization to take care of any related hospital expenses. The daily cash could range from a few hundred rupees to a few thousand rupees. The cash can also be used to meet non-medical expenses. This rider can help you meet the additional expenses that are not covered by the policy.
Maternity rider: Most insurance policies do not cover hospitalization expenses related to pregnancy. However, by opting for a maternity cover rider, you can get extensive coverage for expenses borne during childbirth. However, the maternity cover rider comes with a waiting period of 2-3 years. So one must get this rider as soon as possible to ensure the waiting period is over when you need to avail the benefits of the policy. Some insurers also offer coverage for the child after birth till the end of the policy tenure.
Critical illness cover: There is no doubt that having a regular health insurance plan is crucial for everyone. However, it is equally important to have coverage against critical illnesses as an additional rider. As the name suggests, a critical illness plan pays a lump-sum amount on being diagnosed with a serious ailment such as cancer or stroke. The lump-sum payment can be used not only to pay for the medical expenses but also to pay off debt, replace lost income or any other requirement of the insured or the insured’s family. Most serious ailments are covered under any critical illness cover including heart attack, cancer, stroke, kidney failure and paralysis.
Personal accident rider: Just like a critical illness cover, a personal accident cover pays a lump sum amount to the insured or the nominee, if the former meets an accident causing permanent total or partial disability, temporary disability, or accident death. This rider can be added to your policy at an additional minimal cost. The payout can be used for medical expenses, or any other unplanned expenses including to replace lost income, or even funeral costs.
OPD cover: While most health insurance policies cover medical expenses in case of a hospitalisation, the cost of outpatient treatment (OPD) expenses usually need to be paid from the pocket. By opting for an OPD cover, you can ensure that your policy also covers the medical expenses that you incur for treatment which does not require hospitalisation.
Consumables cover: Health insurance policies, in general, do not cover expenses incurred on consumables during a hospitalisation. Consumables refer to medical aid equipment that have to be discarded after use, like gloves, masks, PPE kits, housekeeping items, surgical items etc. The charges of all these items are usually billed directly to the patient, and these can add up pretty fast. But by opting for a consumables cover benefit, you need not worry about these expenses.
NCB protection: No-claim bonus (NCB) is the reward that you get for not making a claim in any given year. It usually comes in the form of an additional cover over and above the sum insured under your base policy. It often goes up to 100 per cent of the sum insured if you do not make a claim for a given number of years. However, when you make a claim, the NCB is rolled back. By opting for the NCB protection rider, you can ensure that your NCB benefit continues even after making a claim.
Inflation protection: Medical inflation in India is rising sharply, much faster than the rise in prices of other goods. With the cost of treatment becoming more and more expensive every year, it is only natural that you would want a bigger cover a few years from now than what you have today. This is where an inflation protection rider comes in. This rider in your health insurance policy increases your sum insured by a defined percentage at specific periods of time to keep up with inflation.
Health insurance riders are designed in such a way that policyholders get additional coverage at affordable cost by being able to choose only those coverage that work for them. It is usually worth paying a small incremental premium towards these rider benefits.
A health insurance policy provides you security by ensuring that you get the best medical care without any strain on your finances. However, a basic policy may not be enough to cover yourself comprehensively. To meet your specific needs, you could customize it using a variety of riders, or add-on benefits.
What is a rider?
A rider is simply an additional benefit that you can add to your basic health insurance policy at affordable prices to expand your coverage as per your needs. There are different types of riders available. You may want to extend your life insurance coverage, or get a policy for accidental death or disability, and critical illnesses, so that your family’s future is not affected in case of an untoward incident. Opting for a rider along with your regular policy helps you achieve that.
Room rent waiver: This rider allows you to opt for a room with a higher sub-limit, or even without any sub-limit. Generally, most policies set a maximum cap on room rent. They may provide financial cover for only standard or semi-private rooms in the insurance plan. The room rent waiver allows you to go for a room of your choice, including private and deluxe rooms, without having to pay any additional fee at the time of the admission.
Hospital cash benefit: This is among the most common riders that policyholders usually opt for. In simple terms, the hospital cash benefit rider pays daily cash to the policyholder during hospitalization to take care of any related hospital expenses. The daily cash could range from a few hundred rupees to a few thousand rupees. The cash can also be used to meet non-medical expenses. This rider can help you meet the additional expenses that are not covered by the policy.
Maternity rider: Most insurance policies do not cover hospitalization expenses related to pregnancy. However, by opting for a maternity cover rider, you can get extensive coverage for expenses borne during childbirth. However, the maternity cover rider comes with a waiting period of 2-3 years. So one must get this rider as soon as possible to ensure the waiting period is over when you need to avail the benefits of the policy. Some insurers also offer coverage for the child after birth till the end of the policy tenure.
Critical illness cover: There is no doubt that having a regular health insurance plan is crucial for everyone. However, it is equally important to have coverage against critical illnesses as an additional rider. As the name suggests, a critical illness plan pays a lump-sum amount on being diagnosed with a serious ailment such as cancer or stroke. The lump-sum payment can be used not only to pay for the medical expenses but also to pay off debt, replace lost income or any other requirement of the insured or the insured’s family. Most serious ailments are covered under any critical illness cover including heart attack, cancer, stroke, kidney failure and paralysis.
Personal accident rider: Just like a critical illness cover, a personal accident cover pays a lump sum amount to the insured or the nominee, if the former meets an accident causing permanent total or partial disability, temporary disability, or accident death. This rider can be added to your policy at an additional minimal cost. The payout can be used for medical expenses, or any other unplanned expenses including to replace lost income, or even funeral costs.
OPD cover: While most health insurance policies cover medical expenses in case of a hospitalisation, the cost of outpatient treatment (OPD) expenses usually need to be paid from the pocket. By opting for an OPD cover, you can ensure that your policy also covers the medical expenses that you incur for treatment which does not require hospitalisation.
Consumables cover: Health insurance policies, in general, do not cover expenses incurred on consumables during a hospitalisation. Consumables refer to medical aid equipment that have to be discarded after use, like gloves, masks, PPE kits, housekeeping items, surgical items etc. The charges of all these items are usually billed directly to the patient, and these can add up pretty fast. But by opting for a consumables cover benefit, you need not worry about these expenses.
NCB protection: No-claim bonus (NCB) is the reward that you get for not making a claim in any given year. It usually comes in the form of an additional cover over and above the sum insured under your base policy. It often goes up to 100 per cent of the sum insured if you do not make a claim for a given number of years. However, when you make a claim, the NCB is rolled back. By opting for the NCB protection rider, you can ensure that your NCB benefit continues even after making a claim.
Inflation protection: Medical inflation in India is rising sharply, much faster than the rise in prices of other goods. With the cost of treatment becoming more and more expensive every year, it is only natural that you would want a bigger cover a few years from now than what you have today. This is where an inflation protection rider comes in. This rider in your health insurance policy increases your sum insured by a defined percentage at specific periods of time to keep up with inflation.
Health insurance riders are designed in such a way that policyholders get additional coverage at affordable cost by being able to choose only those coverage that work for them. It is usually worth paying a small incremental premium towards these rider benefits.
You might gain a variety of advantages by investing in Child Life Plans. Some of the most important advantages of Child Life Plans are listed below.
Benefit of Life Insurance
It provides financial aid to child on untimely death of parents. Another essential feature of child plans is the provision of a life cover, which offers financial protection to the child in the event of parent's untimely death. This benefit enables the youngster to complete their education in accordance with their parents' wishes.
Good Investing Practices
Investing in Life Plans for children on a regular basis instils in your children an investment habit, teaching them how to save and manage their money. This important lesson learned at an early age subsequently proves to be useful to the children, allowing them to better handle their finances in the future.
Aids in the Funding of a Child's Extracurricular Activities
You may encourage your child's interests and abilities in extracurricular activities by giving them protection through child plans.
Benefits from Taxes
Tax benefits are provided by Child Life Plans to policyholders. Section 80C of the Income Tax Act allows policyholders to deduct up to a certain amount in tax from their taxable income if they purchase a child plan. Assist You in Fostering Your Child's Professional Ambitions.
Child life insurance is the most efficient way to protect your child's future by assisting them in achieving their dreams and ambitions. Children's plans allow them to save money for their future financial needs. Obtaining life insurance plans for children that can give financial aid in case of a need can assist your child in achieving his or her professional goals.
Avoid Additional Loans:
Your saving/investment that you started doing today will help you and your child the most in the future.
Investment & Protection:
Through an endowment plan for child education, you get dual benefits of Insurance and Investments
Conclusion
A child insurance plan allows us to set aside a certain amount for the child's future financial requirements while also safeguarding the youngster from any threats. It doesn't matter how much money you start with; the important thing is to start investing as soon as possible in order to optimise your long-term returns. Having a solid plan now is preferable than having a fantastic plan later in the day.
Benefit of Life Insurance
It provides financial aid to child on untimely death of parents. Another essential feature of child plans is the provision of a life cover, which offers financial protection to the child in the event of parent's untimely death. This benefit enables the youngster to complete their education in accordance with their parents' wishes.
Good Investing Practices
Investing in Life Plans for children on a regular basis instils in your children an investment habit, teaching them how to save and manage their money. This important lesson learned at an early age subsequently proves to be useful to the children, allowing them to better handle their finances in the future.
Aids in the Funding of a Child's Extracurricular Activities
You may encourage your child's interests and abilities in extracurricular activities by giving them protection through child plans.
Benefits from Taxes
Tax benefits are provided by Child Life Plans to policyholders. Section 80C of the Income Tax Act allows policyholders to deduct up to a certain amount in tax from their taxable income if they purchase a child plan. Assist You in Fostering Your Child's Professional Ambitions.
Child life insurance is the most efficient way to protect your child's future by assisting them in achieving their dreams and ambitions. Children's plans allow them to save money for their future financial needs. Obtaining life insurance plans for children that can give financial aid in case of a need can assist your child in achieving his or her professional goals.
Avoid Additional Loans:
Your saving/investment that you started doing today will help you and your child the most in the future.
Investment & Protection:
Through an endowment plan for child education, you get dual benefits of Insurance and Investments
Conclusion
A child insurance plan allows us to set aside a certain amount for the child's future financial requirements while also safeguarding the youngster from any threats. It doesn't matter how much money you start with; the important thing is to start investing as soon as possible in order to optimise your long-term returns. Having a solid plan now is preferable than having a fantastic plan later in the day.
Everybody wants to have a financially independent retirement when they have spent time working hard to save for retirement. There may be certain goals or financial obligations that one may consider before thinking about retirement planning. Retirement planning is important for every individual. An individual retires from work, not life. After retirement an individual may have a new set of goals and would also like to maintain a lifestyle without worrying about expenses.
Below mentioned are reasons why retirement planning is important for an individual:
1. Be Emergency Ready
The primary objective of planning for retirement is to ensure you have sufficient funds in case of any kind of emergency. You would not want to be financially dependent on anybody to fulfill urgent financial requirements. If you have a good retirement plan you will be able to build a corpus which can be used in an emergency.
2. Fulfill Goals
After retirement an individual may have a new set of goals to achieve such as travelling, supporting your child’s business, sending your children abroad, starting a new venture etc. With the right retirement plan you can achieve a corpus to fulfill these goals. If you plan in advance you can create a corpus to help you achieve your future financial goals.
3. Fight Inflation
Biggest reason why people start investing in pension schemes and retirement plans is to fight inflation. The prices of consumer goods and services have risen, when you choose to invest in a retirement plan you can create a corpus that can help you fight inflation. Things that cost Rs 100 will probably cost more in future planning in advance for retirement can help you beat inflation.
4. Maintain a Good Standard of Living
You would want to continue your current style of living in the future. Your current expenses are covered under your salary. In future or during your retirement when you are not working, the accumulated retirement fund can help you maintain a decent standard of living even post retirement.
5. Ensure Income Post Retirement
Retirement planning includes investing in a retirement or pension scheme which can help you ensure a regular income post your retirement. When you choose to invest in a retirement/pension scheme you can ensure a regular source of income to meet your financial requirements and goals post retirement.
Conclusion
For a salaried person it is very important to start planning for retirement at an early age. There are many circumstances which require funds even after retirement. Planning for retirement at an early age can help you achieve certain financial goals, maintain a good lifestyle, beat inflation and most importantly have funds for any kind of emergency.
“GUILT BLOCKS OUR GROWTH”
Below mentioned are reasons why retirement planning is important for an individual:
1. Be Emergency Ready
The primary objective of planning for retirement is to ensure you have sufficient funds in case of any kind of emergency. You would not want to be financially dependent on anybody to fulfill urgent financial requirements. If you have a good retirement plan you will be able to build a corpus which can be used in an emergency.
2. Fulfill Goals
After retirement an individual may have a new set of goals to achieve such as travelling, supporting your child’s business, sending your children abroad, starting a new venture etc. With the right retirement plan you can achieve a corpus to fulfill these goals. If you plan in advance you can create a corpus to help you achieve your future financial goals.
3. Fight Inflation
Biggest reason why people start investing in pension schemes and retirement plans is to fight inflation. The prices of consumer goods and services have risen, when you choose to invest in a retirement plan you can create a corpus that can help you fight inflation. Things that cost Rs 100 will probably cost more in future planning in advance for retirement can help you beat inflation.
4. Maintain a Good Standard of Living
You would want to continue your current style of living in the future. Your current expenses are covered under your salary. In future or during your retirement when you are not working, the accumulated retirement fund can help you maintain a decent standard of living even post retirement.
5. Ensure Income Post Retirement
Retirement planning includes investing in a retirement or pension scheme which can help you ensure a regular income post your retirement. When you choose to invest in a retirement/pension scheme you can ensure a regular source of income to meet your financial requirements and goals post retirement.
Conclusion
For a salaried person it is very important to start planning for retirement at an early age. There are many circumstances which require funds even after retirement. Planning for retirement at an early age can help you achieve certain financial goals, maintain a good lifestyle, beat inflation and most importantly have funds for any kind of emergency.
“GUILT BLOCKS OUR GROWTH”