Most insurance companies now provide health insurance coverage for parents as part of their employee benefits. Nearly 30% of corporate health insurance policies now incorporate parental coverage. It is a common confusion that many insurance companies in India consider health insurance for parents under the senior citizen health plan. But there are significant differences in the sum insured, entry age, and many other aspects.
Let’s get an overview of what health insurance policies for parents mean, and then pick the best health insurance policy through the options discussed in the present article.
Overview of Health Insurance for Parents
These plans cover the medical expenses of parents during daycare treatments, hospitalisation, diagnostic tests, ambulance services, etc. They provide cashless hospitalisation services to parents at any neighboring hospital during a medical emergency. The eligibility for this plan is that they must be your parents or you must have a legal relationship with them (like adopted children or stepchildren).
Generally, good health insurance for parents supports features like a higher sum insured, a lower pre-existing disease (PED) waiting period, zero co-payment, annual health check-ups, and unlimited reinstatement of the sum insured. NRIs (non-resident Indians) can also purchase a health insurance policy for their parents in India.
Types of Health Insurance Plans for Parents in India
Go through different types of health insurance plans for parents as described here:
1) Individual Health Insurance Plans
This insurance option covers only one person, i.e., either your mother or father, on a single premium amount. It implies that only one person can utilise the sum insured for the premium paid to the insurance provider.
2) Family Health Insurance Plans
These plans cover the medical costs of both parents –your mother and your father, for a single premium amount. It means that your parents need to share the policy’s sum insured on a floater basis; it can be claimed as needed.
3) Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plans
This option offers medical coverage to your parents, provided they are 60 years old or older. It covers your parents’ health needs during their later years of life to ensure worry-free retirement.
4) Critical Illness Insurance Plans
These plans pay a lump sum amount if your parents are diagnosed with any of the critical illnesses, like heart attack, cancer, kidney failure, etc., regardless of the medical expenditures.
5) Top-up Health Insurance Plans
These plans offer medical coverage to your parents in addition to their base mediclaim policy. You can go for this policy if your parents’ base policy gets exhausted. Remember, you have to pay a mandatory deductible to enable coverage for your parents.
Features Covered Under Health Insurance for Parents
Here’s an overview of the key features covered under health insurance policies for parents:
i) Hospitalisation expenses:
These denote expenses incurred by your parents when they get admitted to a hospital for more than 24 hours.
ii) Pre-hospitalisation expenses:
It funds the diagnostic tests and doctor consultations incurred before hospitalising your parents. Typically, the duration ranges from 30 days to up to 120 days before hospitalisation, as per the plan.
iii) Post-hospitalisation expenses:
It covers the medical expenses encountered after discharging your parents from the hospital. Typically, the duration varies from 60 days to 180 days after hospitalisation, as per the plan.
iv) Pre-existing Diseases:
It covers expenses for the treatment of your parents’ pre-existing ailments, after a waiting period of 1-3 years.
v) AYUSH Benefit:
It incorporates the medical expenses due to the inpatient treatment of your parents via the AYUSH system of medicines (including Homeopathy, Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, and Yoga).
vi) Health Check-up Benefit:
It covers medical expenses due to preventive health check-ups for your parents.
vii) Major Surgeries:
It covers expenses of major surgeries like brain surgery, knee replacement surgery, open heart surgery, liver transplant surgery, etc.
viii) Ambulance Charges:
It compensates ambulance charges for transporting your parents to the hospital (during a medical emergency.
ix) Day Care Procedures:
It includes daycare treatments, for example, cataract surgery that does not require hospitalisation for more than 24 hours.
x) Domiciliary Treatment:
It covers the expenses of domiciliary treatment provided to your parents if hospitalisation is not supported.
xi) Home Treatment:
Medical expenses incurred during the home treatment of your parents are covered under this.
xii) Mental Illness Treatment:
It compensates for the medical expenses for the treatment of mental illnesses of your parents.
xiii) OPD Expenses:
It compensates medical expenses on OPD treatments that include diagnostic tests costs, doctor consultation charges, and pharmacy expenses.
Exclusions Under Health Insurance Plans for Parents
The medical expenses not covered under health insurance for parents are:
- Intentional injuries or an attempted suicide
- Non-allopathic treatment
- Dietary supplements and constituents
- Treatment for excessive consumption of alcohol and drug overdose
- Expenses of dental treatments (except it is an accident)
- Expenses of lenses, spectacles, and other external aids
- Plastic or cosmetic surgeries
- Correction of a refractive error of less than 7.5 dioptres
- Unverified treatments
- Venereal diseases
Conclusion
Remember to understand the major difference between the health insurance plans for parents and senior citizen medical insurance. Many individuals are likely to get confused between these two terms, and therefore, they end up choosing an inappropriate insurance plan. Carefully review the policy features of different insurance providers, coverage offered, premiums, and other key features to make a wise decision.