Health insurance for parents, who are usually senior citizens, can be quite pricey. While there are options out there, they often come with a bunch of terms and conditions, such as co-payment clauses, exclusions for pre-existing illnesses, waiting periods, mandatory medical checkups, and more. Buying a policy for yourself is one thing; buying one for your parents is a whole different ball game.
ET Wealth Online has outlined five options that can help you get adequate coverage for your parents and grandparents.
Keep reading on to find out about the costs of health insurance premiums for senior citizens and discover how to secure enough coverage without breaking the bank.
Here’s how to cover your parents and make premiums more affordable
Technically, there is no upper age limit for getting a health insurance policy. But if there’s a history of illnesses, it can really affect your chances of getting one. So, your parents’ medical history plays a crucial role in approval. If they have one or more pre-existing conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, thyroid disorders, and similar issues, the likelihood of your application being declined increases significantly.
“Health insurance pricing is driven largely by age-related risk and not just current medical reports. Post 50 years of age, the likelihood of hospitalisation, complications, and high-cost treatments increases significantly, irrespective of how well conditions like BP or diabetes are managed,” says Sarita Joshi, Head of Health and Life Insurance, Probus
Insurers price policies based on long-term claim expectations and medical inflation, which means age itself becomes the biggest factor, irrespective of how stable existing conditions are, she adds.
