Older people are more prone to certain diseases and health conditions as compared to younger people. The treatment of old age-related health problems is not only expensive but also long-term. If you buy a senior citizen health insurance plan from Policybazaar.com, you don’t have to worry about paying for the medical expenses arising out of health problems in your old age.
*All savings are provided by the insurer as per the IRDAI approved insurance plan. Standard T&C Apply
*Tax benefit is subject to changes in tax laws. Standard T&C Apply
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Senior Citizen Health Insurance is a type of health insurance plan that covers medical expenses incurred by people above 60 years old. It offers preventive health check-up facilities to the elderly and cashless hospitalization at network hospitals of the insurance company. It covers pre-existing diseases, hospitalization expenses, critical illness, and pre and post hospitalization expenses and coronavirus treatment.
The following table shows the characteristics of most senior citizen health insurance plans that are available to buy on Policybazaar.com:
Categories | Specifications |
Minimum Entry Age | 60 years and above |
Maximum Entry Age | No age limit |
Cashless Claims | Available at network hospitals |
Preventive Health Check-ups | Available |
Renewability | Lifetime |
Long Term Policy Benefit | Up to 12.5% savings on a 2-year plan |
Tax Benefits | Up to Rs 75,000 in a financial year (Under section 80D of the IT Act) |
A senior citizen mediclaim policy offers a variety of benefits to elderly people. Below are some of the primary benefits of buying a senior citizen mediclaim policy in India:
The following table shows the various senior citizens health insurance plans that you can buy from Policybazaar.com online:
Senior Citizens Health Insurance Plans |
Entry Age |
Sum Insured |
Pre-existing Disease Coverage |
Pre-Policy Medical Check-up |
Aditya Birla Activ Care Plan |
55-80 years |
Standard: 3 lakh to 10 lakh |
From the 3rd year |
Required |
Bajaj Allianz Silver Health Plan |
46-70 years |
50,000 to 5 lakh |
From the 2nd year |
Required |
Bharti AXA Smart Health Insurance Plan |
18-65 years |
Basic: 50,000 to 5 lakh |
From the 5th year |
Required for people above 45 years |
Care Senior Health Plan |
61 years onwards |
3 lakh to 10 lakh |
From the 5th year |
Not required |
Cholamandalam Flexi Health Supreme Plan |
18-75 years |
Basic: 3 lakh to 25 lakh |
From 3rd/4th year (depending on the plan type) |
Required |
Digit Health Care Pus Plan |
18 years onwards |
Up to 3 crore |
From 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th year (depending on the plan coverage) |
May be required |
Edelweiss Health Insurance Plan |
18 years onwards |
Silver: 1 lakh to 5 lakh |
From the 3rd/ 4th/ 5th year (depending on the plan variant) |
Required for people above 50 years |
Future Generali Health Suraksha Plan |
18-70 years |
Gold: 1 lakh to 5 lakh |
From the 5th year |
Required for people above 50 years |
IFFCO Tokio Individual Medishield Plan |
18 -65 years |
50,000 to 50 lakh |
From the 4th year |
Required for people above 60 years |
Kotak Mahindra Health Care Plan |
18 -65 years |
Excel: 2 lakh to 4 lakh |
From the 5th year |
NA |
Liberty Health Connect Plan |
18 -65 years |
E-Connect: 3 lakh to 7.5 lakh |
From the 3rd/ 4th/ 5th year (depending on the plan variant) |
Required for people above 55 years |
ManipalCigna ProHealth Insurance Plan |
18 years onwards |
Protect: 2.5 lakh to 50 lakh |
From the 3rd/ 4th/ 5th year (depending on the plan variant) |
NA |
Niva Bupa (Formerly known as Max Bupa) Heartbeat Plan |
18 years onwards |
Gold: 5 lakh to 50 lakh |
From the 3rd/ 5th year (depending on the plan variant) |
May be required |
National Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy |
18 years onwards |
1 lakh to 10 lakh |
From the 3rd year |
NA |
New India Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy |
60-80 years |
1 lakh to 1.5 lakh |
After 1.5 years |
Required |
Oriental HOPE Insurance Plan |
60 years onwards |
1 lakh to 5 lakh |
From the 3rd year |
Required |
Raheja QuBE Health Insurance Plan |
18-65 years |
Basic: 1 lakh to 50 lakh |
From the 5th year |
May be required |
Reliance Health Gain Plan |
18-65 years |
3 lakh to 18 lakh |
From the 4th year |
Required for people above 45 years and with a sum insured of Rs 12 lakh onwards |
Royal Sundaram Lifeline Health Insurance Plan |
18 years onwards |
Classic: 2 lakh to 4 lakh |
From the 3rd/ 4th/ 5th year (depending on the plan variant) |
NA |
SBI Arogya Premier Plan |
18-65 years |
10 lakh to 30 lakh |
From the 5th year |
Required for people above 55 years |
Star Senior Citizen Red Carpet Insurance Plan |
60-75 years |
1 lakh to 25 lakh |
From the 2nd year |
Not required |
Tata AIG MediCare Plan |
18 years onwards |
3 lakh to 20 lakh |
From the 4th year |
Required for people above 45 years |
United India Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan |
61-80 years |
1 lakh to 3 lakh |
From the 5th year |
Required |
Universal Sompo Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan |
60-70 years |
1 lakh to 5 lakh |
From the 3rd year |
May be required |
*Disclaimer: Policybazaar does not endorse, rate or recommend any particular insurer or insurance product offered by an insurer.
Senior citizens need to have health insurance coverage as they can face severe health issues due to their increasing age. An emergency hospitalization of your parents can be both emotionally and financially distressing. Health insurance for parents can help you to manage the financial implications of hospitalization. Some of the other prominent reasons why you need to buy a senior citizen health insurance plan are given below:
Some of the common coverage provided under senior citizen health insurance plans are given below:
Below is a list of medical expenses that are not covered under a senior citizen health insurance plan:
Please note that the list of exclusions varies from one plan to another.
A senior citizen mediclaim policy offers health insurance coverage to elderly people who are vulnerable to serious illnesses that may require expensive treatment. You can easily buy a health insurance plan for senior citizens online from Policybazaar.com. Take a look at the things that should be considered while buying a mediclaim policy for senior citizens:
With the advancement in medical technology, a lot of treatments and surgeries can be done through day care procedures. But under a regular health insurance policy, a senior citizen must be hospitalized for at least 24 hours to raise a claim. Therefore, it is better to choose a senior citizen plan that covers a lot of day care procedures like dialysis, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc.
Every health insurance company has a broad network of hospitals where you can avail cashless hospitalization facilities. You must check the list of network hospitals of your insurance company before buying a plan. This will help you to know if a good hospital in your locality falls under the list. You can check the network hospitals list by different insurance companies and buy the best senior citizen health insurance policy online at Policybazaar.com.
Claim settlement ratio and claim settlement time taken by the insurance company should also be taken into consideration while buying a senior citizen health policy. If an insurance company’s claim settlement time is less and the claim settlement ratio is high, it means that the chances of your claim getting settled quickly are more.
Almost all insurance companies provide a no claim bonus discount if no claims are lodged by the policyholder in the previous year. In such a case, either the policy premium decreases or the sum insured amount increases.
The best health insurance plans for senior citizens allow the policyholders to avail medical check-up for free on an annual basis. This usually is offered after the completion of certain policy years or after every two/three claim-free years.
Several senior citizen health plans come with a co-payment clause in which a part of the claim amount has to be paid by the policyholder. Only the remaining portion of the claim amount is paid by the insurance company. Hence, you must opt for a plan with low to zero co-payment.
Always look for a best health insurance plan that offers a lifetime renewability option so that you won’t have to buy another health plan in your old age. A policy that ceases to renew, especially after 60 years, is not the right plan for a senior citizen.
Elderly people are more likely to have pre-existing diseases whose treatment can exhaust all your savings. Therefore, you should opt for a senior citizen health insurance plan that comes with a minimum waiting period for pre-existing diseases.
There can be situations where an elderly person’s health condition may not allow him/her to get admitted to a hospital. In such a case, health plans with domiciliary hospitalization cover will pay for home treatment expenses as long as it has been advised by a qualified doctor.
*All savings are provided by the insurer as per the IRDAI approved insurance plan. Standard T&C apply.
Senior Citizen Health Insurance plans require policyholders to file a health insurance claim if they get hospitalized or avail an emergency medical treatment. A claim can be raised either to avail cashless treatment at a network hospital or get reimbursement of expenses incurred at a non-network hospital. The process to file a reimbursement and cashless claim are given below:
The following steps are involved in lodging a reimbursement claim under a senior citizen health insurance plan:
If you avail medical treatment at a network hospital, then you can file for a cashless claim under a senior citizen health policy. Take a look at the steps listed below:
A senior citizen health policy not only provides assurance to cover medical expenses but also allows you to avail tax exemption under section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. You are eligible for an income tax rebate of up to Rs 50,000 if you hold a mediclaim policy for senior citizens for your elderly parents.
You can also avail an additional tax rebate of Rs 5,000 on payments made towards preventive health check-ups every financial year. Moreover, you can also get a rebate of up to Rs 1 lakh if the senior citizen undertakes a critical disease treatment.
If you are a senior citizen who is still earning and also paying the health insurance premium on behalf of your son or daughter, then you can avail an additional income tax rebate of Rs 25,000. This means that you can avail tax deduction of up to Rs 75,000 in a financial year under section 80D.
Policybazaar Insurance Broker Private Limited offers multiple benefits to the policyholder on buying a senior citizen health insurance policy. Take a look at them below:
Ans: As a person ages, the possibility and severity of various illnesses increase too. Thus, aged people end up bearing higher healthcare costs. But often, the elderly people do not have a regular source of income apart from their pension. Paying for expensive medical treatment with their limited income may be difficult to manage. That is why getting a senior citizen health insurance policy at this point in time is extremely important.
Ans: Health insurance for senior citizens mostly comes with mandatory pre-policy medical check-ups, limited coverage and an extensive list of exclusions. You must check these factors carefully before buying a plan. You should also look out for factors, such as entry/exit age, maximum renewal age, co-payment, domiciliary treatment, etc. while buying the policy.
Ans: The following documents are required to buy a mediclaim policy for senior citizens:
Ans: Yes, you may need to go through a medical screening before buying most senior citizen health plans. As aged people are more vulnerable to critical diseases and medical conditions, they are a greater liability for the insurance company. Hence, most insurance companies need the elderly applicant to go through a medical screening to assess their health condition and accordingly charge a premium.
Ans: Yes, every health insurance company in India offers a cashless hospitalization facility to its customers at their network hospitals.
Ans: Yes. When you port your senior citizen health insurance policy from one insurance company to another, you are allowed to carry forward your continuity advantages, such as No Claim Bonus or cumulative bonus and waiting periods, to your new policy. But you need to port to a plan with similar coverage to ensure continuity benefits. Make sure to contact the insurance provider beforehand to know about the terms and conditions related to insurance portability
Ans: Usually, the applicant has to bear the costs of medical tests held prior to taking the senior citizen health policy. Sometimes, insurance companies arrange the appointment with their empanelled hospitals and cover 50% of the total cost incurred on the test by the applicant.
Ans: There are some insurance companies that offer free health check-up facilities to the insured under senior citizen health policy every year, even if you have applied for a claim. However, there are also companies that offer this benefit to the insured after every two/three/four claim-free years. So it is best to read the policy wordings of a senior citizen mediclaim policy carefully to get a clear idea of conditions related to medical check-ups.
Ans: Claim documents should be submitted to the TPA of your health insurance provider, except in cases where there is no TPA and the insurance company is doing an in-house claim settlement.
Ans: Yes. Several senior citizen health insurance plans cover critical illnesses. While some plans offer coverage for critical diseases as an in-built cover, others offer it as an add-on cover available at an additional premium.
Ans: Most senior citizen health insurance plans provide the sum insured on an individual basis.
Ans: Yes. Buying a health insurance policy will get costly as your age increases. Therefore, you are advised to buy a senior citizen health insurance policy as soon as you are eligible to purchase it.