How can you express your gratitude to someone who has given you everything? Your father has been the protective shield for your family. He has strongly stood beside your family during difficult times.
Why not thank him by offering him a financial shield against medical emergencies? If you agree with this, buying health insurance for your father can be a good option.
Let’s look at the reasons and benefits for buying parental insurance:
Plan for Goals and Emergencies
It would be best if you planned your savings and investments to match and accomplish your life goals. Similarly, you should plan to mitigate the emergencies that life may throw at you unexpectedly. One of these potential emergencies is the hospitalisation of a family member.
But, along with it you have more concerns about,
His Ailment might be Severe and Hospitalisation Expensive
The rising costs of hospitalisation, consulting, medical tests, medicines etc., is called medical inflation. Medical expenses have risen by a considerable amount in the past few years. Treatment at a good hospital costs much more now than a few years back. These costs that you may incur are hard to predict in terms of quantity and frequency.
Potential Havoc
If not adequately planned for, an unexpected hospitalisation of a family member may wreak havoc. Having to deal with the disease or condition of the loved one is an ordeal in itself. There are also the hospitalisation expenses to be taken care of. And these can be huge. They can also cause you financial trauma.
Having a sound plan in place to mitigate these potential emergencies is an excellent idea.
Read on to know what you can do.
Buying Health Insurance
Health insurance covers the hospitalisation expenses of the insured person. Buying a health insurance plan for the whole family can mitigate potential health risks effectively.
The health insurance market is ripe and teeming with policies from a host of insurers.
Let’s look at some of them to see which ones will work best for you.
Family Floater Plan
A family floater plan covers the medical expenses of all the included family members. They can be self, spouse, children and parents. Insurers offer a lower premium when you purchase a plan for the whole family.
However, if your father is a senior citizen, the health risks associated are higher. Some insurers provide health insurance to seniors with a mandatory copay clause.
What is a copay clause? Read along to find out.
Copay Clause
A copay clause means that the insured person pays a part of the claimed amount. The insurance company pays the rest. For example, your policy has a copay clause of 20%. Your total claimed expenses are, say, ₹5 lakh. Then, you will have to pay ₹1 lakh, and the insurer will pay the rest of the ₹4 lakhs.
When you include a senior in a floater, the copay clause applies to all members. This is undesirable. You should restrict the copay clause to only those members for whom it is inevitable.
How can you do that? The following section has a solution.
Combination of Family Floater for Non-Seniors and Senior Plan for Seniors
You can include only the non-senior members of the family in the floater plan. And for the seniors, you can purchase a separate senior plan.
The total premium on this combination might be more than the premium of the floater plan, with everyone included. But it restricts the copay clause only to the senior members.
There are, however, a few things that you need to scrutinise in a senior plan carefully. Read along to find out what they are.
Things to look at carefully in Senior Health Insurance Plans
Mandatory Health Checks
Most senior health insurance policies have mandatory health checks; these are performed so that the insurer can assess the health risk associated with the insured person. The insurer then offers a premium for covering the insured person. Look for the policy with the least premium, all other things being equal.
Pre-Existing Conditions Cover
Pre-existing conditions are conditions or ailments which the insured person had before purchasing the policy. Diabetes, Hypertension and certain cardiac conditions are examples of pre-existing conditions. Some insurers do not cover pre-existing conditions for seniors. At the same time, some insurers cover them subject to the terms, conditions and limits laid out in the policy document. Go for a policy that can provide the maximum pre-existing condition coverage possible.
Critical Illness Cover
Cancer, certain cardiac conditions and other such diseases are called critical illnesses. Some policies do not cover critical illnesses. While some cover critical illnesses subject to certain terms, conditions, and limits in the policy document.
Go with the Policy Coverage Combination that is most appropriate for you
These are the options available and the things to look for. Buying medical insurance for parents based on your specific needs can help you financially tackle medical emergencies. If your father is a senior citizen, you can learn more about health policy for parents and cost analysis here.