Why Should Every Parent Have Separate Health Insurance Along with Life Cover?

Securing one’s life, by soliciting an insurance is a crucial step in ensuring financial stability in the long term. However, due to the rising costs of healthcare, it’s equally important to consider health insurance for parents. This insurance policy is tailored to their medical needs, offering a safety net against age related conditions and unexpected health concerns.

Hence, choosing a well-known and reliable health insurance for parents’ medical expenses is always important. Team Maverick has explored some important reasons as to why one should need separate health insurance for parents.

Today we are going to delve into 05 Reasons unveiling the necessity in requiring Separate Health Insurance for Parents Alongside Life Cover:

Reason 1: Comprehensive & Customised Benefits – Purchasing health insurance for parents typically provides essential coverage, including pre & post-hospitalisation costs, inpatient treatment, and day care procedures. Many policies also include critical illness benefits, which help cover the high expenses associated with serious health conditions. Additionally, some plans offer preventive health screenings to monitor your parents’ well-being, ensuring early detection of potential conditions.

Reason 2: Higher Coverage – When a family health insurance plan is opted, the coverage is shared among the individual members. However, parents can be affected by several age-related ailments as they grow older. Lifestyle-related health issues can also cause concern. Higher coverage is solely secured when you buy separate medical insurance for parents to access the benefits when they are in extreme need.

Reason 3: Optimising the Benefits of No Claim Bonus (NCB) – In a family health insurance policy, the No Claim Bonus (NCB) is typically shared among all members. A claim made by any member in the previous year can impact the NCB, potentially affecting your parents’ coverage cost. As parents chronologically ages, they may experience more frequent health issues, reducing their ability to take advantage of the NCB and potentially increasing their insurance premiums. Therefore, parents need to have separate medical insurance.

Reason 4: Additional Tax Benefits – Term insurance premiums are eligible for tax deductions under Section 80C, up to Rs. 1,50,000. For health insurance, under Section 80D, one can claim deductions of up to Rs. 25,000 for premiums paid for himself, spouse, children, and parents. If parents are senior citizens, this limit increases to Rs. 50,000. By purchasing a separate health insurance policy for one’s parents, one can claim an additional deduction of up to Rs. 25,000 (Rs. 50,000 if they are senior citizens).

Reason 5: Wellness Benefit – Parents’ health insurance also offers amazing benefits, mainly including guidance on diet, nutrition, lifestyle, routine, and overall health. This goes beyond covering medical expenses by helping improve your parents’ overall well-being and reducing the risk of future health issues.

Essential Considerations: When Buying Health Insurance for Parents, there are several essential factors to remember when choosing the best health insurance for parents –

• Coverage Requirements – One should select a plan that offers comprehensive coverage, especially for a variety of illnesses, mainly pre-existing conditions. Many insurance providers usually cover these conditions after a waiting period. Therefore, thoroughly reviewing all the details is essential to fully understanding the policy’s terms and conditions.

• Age of Parents – One might not be aware that many insurance providers have minimum age requirements for offering parents health insurance. The entry age criteria may vary from one insurance company to another. Therefore, it is recommended that numerous companies and their policies be compared. The age of the individual seeking the policy should be considered, as it significantly impacts the premium rate.

• Network Hospitals – It is the smartest way to buy parents’ health insurance from a company with a wider tie-up and an extensive network of hospitals across several cities. However, ensuring that they have medical coverage in the nearest hospitals for senior citizens is essential, as one never know when and where an emergency may happen.
• Sum Insured – The sum insured is also essential because it’s the maximum amount the insurance company will cover for the parents’ medical expenses. Hence, one should buy term insurance online with a higher insurance limit.

• Sub Limits – One should be careful while reading the sub-limits clause. Different medical insurance for parents may have a set amount of coverage for specific illnesses, and the coverage ceases beyond this amount.

• Co-Payment – Many mediclaim for parents generally include co-payment options. The policyholder must pay a fixed percentage of the claim amount out of pocket before the term insurance covers the rest. The insurer also covers the remaining amount as per the insurance policy terms. So, you must try to get health insurance for your parents with low or no co-payment requirements.

Securing the well-being of your parents with separate health insurance is a thoughtful and prudent financial decision. It offers excellent coverage and numerous other exciting benefits in an emergency.

Team Maverick