Individuals, especially senior citizens, should take an add-on policy that covers pre-existing diseases such as asthma, hypertension, diabetes from day one by paying an extra premium. This will ensure comprehensive coverage for health conditions that require regular check-ups, treatment and reduce the out-of-pocket expenses.
Pre-existing diseases such as diabetes and hypertension are now quite common across all age groups due to sedentary lifestyles. The coverage for such pre-existing diseases eventually starts after a waiting period of three to four years.
Recently, the insurance regulator has reduced the waiting period for pre-existing diseases in health insurance to 36 months from 48 months. Insurance companies cannot reject any claim on the grounds of pre-existence of ailment after three years of issuing the policy. In fact, almost all health insurance plans have an initial waiting period of one month during which no claims are accepted, except for accidental cases.
