While buying health insurance there are several factors that can determine the premium that you need to pay and the benefits that you will get eventually. When it comes to senior citizens, they rarely have the opportunity to sustain a regular source of income so extra precautions must be taken when it comes to investing your hard earned savings.
Here are 7 important things you need to consider before buying a health insurance for Senior Citizens:-
- Age: Age plays the most vital role while looking at different health insurance plans. When a senior citizen is purchasing some health insurance plan, it must be checked if the plan is offering coverage for the longest period of time. Usually it is not possible to extend a health insurance once you are above 80 and it is that age when you would be most prone to diseases and disorders. It is always advisable to purchase a new insurance instead of taking the hassle to renew the old insurance one you are above 80.
- Pre-Existing Health Conditions: It is often seen that many of the plans would include a long waiting period for pre-existing conditions. For a senior citizen it is more likely that the health insurance would be required for some pre-existing conditions. It is strongly advisable to opt for the insurance having a lesser waiting time even if the premium is little higher as it will be more beneficial overall. Also when it comes to your medical history many insurance plans would exclude many of the pre-existing conditions, hereditary diseases, pre and post hospitalization expenses. One must check these factors and go for the plan with the minimum number of exclusions.
- Cashless Policy: It is well known; most of the senior citizens would depend on their savings or some pension funds and would not have a stable source of regular income. It is very important to go for the insurance policy that offers the cashless option. By opting the cashless option there would be no chance of any financial crisis, as you do not need to pay while receiving treatment and then get reimbursed later on.
- Insured Amount: The priority must be a high amount of coverage rather than going for the option with just the minimum premium. One can also consider the option of plans with super top up instead of buying a new policy with higher coverage. These health insurance plans would have higher deductible and this makes them more affordable than base plans with higher coverage.
- Co-Payment: Many health insurance policies offer the option of co-payment. It is always beneficial to opt for the option of co-payment as this ensures, during some medical emergency, you need to pay only a part of the medical insurance from your own pocket. The clause of co-payment varies a lot for different insurance policies and also it depends on the insurance company. It is advised that one must check this clause before purchasing a health insurance.
- Network Hospital: The insurance company would usually provide a list of hospitals that are approved by them. It is extremely important to check if these hospitals are nearby or within your convenience. It is especially important to check this list while opting for the cashless insurance policy as going to a hospital that is not approved will devoid you of obtaining the benefits of cashless treatment. It is also very inconvenient for a senior citizen to travel for long distance with deteriorating health to avail the benefits provided by the insurance in the approved hospitals so one must be very careful with checking the hospitals in immediate location where he/she can enjoy the benefits of the insurance.
- Online Health Insurance Plans: Nowadays most of the health insurance plans are available online. Checking the plans online gives an opportunity to compare the various insurance policies and terms that are offered by different companies. One must compare the factors such as coverage, inclusions, exclusions, price and add-ons.
These are some of the most common factors you should keep in mind when you are looking at health insurance for senior citizens.