Health Insurance Plans for Senior Citizens

• Hospitalization Expense Cover- These plans cover senior citizens against a range of medical expenses, including pre-hospitalization, post-hospitalization, and in-patient hospitalization expenses.
• Cashless Treatment- Senior citizens can avail the cashless medical treatment at networkhospitals of the insurance company, provided they get admitted for a minimum of 24 hours.
• NoClaim Bonus- It provides a No Claim Bonus to the senior citizens that allows them to avail a discount on renewal premium for every claim-free year. It can range from 20% to 100% in some plans.
• Lifetime Renewability –Most health plans for senior citizens come with a lifetime renewability option.
• Tax-Benefits- Senior citizen health insurance policy offers tax exemption benefits every financial year on the paid premium undersection 80D of the IT Act.

• Critical Illness Cover- With old age,the possibility of being diagnosed with critical illnesses like heart ailments, kidney problems, cancer, etc. becomes higher. With a senior citizen health insurance policy, you can also get coverage for critical illnesses in your basic plan or as an add-on cover.
• Annual Health Check-up Facilities- Senior citizens can avail free health check-ups on a yearly basis under most senior citizen health plans. As they need to undergo medical screening on a regular basis, this facility can help minimize out-of-pocket expenses. However, some plans may offer this facility after every two or three claim-free years.
• Peace of Mind- Paying off hospital bills can be distressing for elderly people, especially with an increase in treatment costs for both minor and major illnesses. A health insurance policy can bring peace of mind to senior citizens in such situations.

• Pre and Post-hospitalization Expenses- Medical costs before getting hospitalized and after getting discharged are also included under a senior citizen mediclaim policy.
• COVID-19 Cover- The policy also pays for the cost of coronavirus treatment up to the specified limit.
• Organ Donor Expenses- Most mediclaim policies cover the donor expenses incurred during organ transplants. 
• Ambulance Charges- It covers ambulance charges incurred on transporting the insured to the nearest hospital up to the specified limit.
• Pre-existing Diseases- Any pre-existing diseases of the insured senior citizen are also covered after a fixed waiting period.
• AYUSHTreatment Cost- AYUSH treatment taken in a government-recognized hospital or institute is also covered under some senior citizen mediclaim policies.
• Domiciliary Hospitalization Cover- If the doctor suggests home treatment for the elderly person, then his/her insurance company will pay for domiciliary hospitalization expenses as well.

• Expenses related to non-allopathic treatment
• The treatment cost of injuries caused due to an act of foreign army or a civil war.
• Cosmetic surgery
• The cost of dental treatment or lenses/spectacles unless arising from an accident.
• Treatment cost of AIDS

Please note that the list of exclusions varies from one plan to another.

2. Cashless Hospitals

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.

3. Efficacy of Health Insurance Claims

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.

4. No Claim Bonus

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.

5. Free Medical Health Check-up Facility

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.

6. Co-payment

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.

7. Policy Renewability

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.

8. Pre-existing Diseases Waiting Period

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.

9. Domiciliary Hospitalization

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.

• Fill up and sign the claim form
• Submit the claim form to the TPA or the insurer along with all the required documents like doctor’s prescriptions, pathological reports, chemist bills, certificate of hospital admission and discharge,
• The claim is settled by the claims team after careful review and the claim amount is reimbursed.

2. Senior Citizen Health Insurance Cashless Claim Process:

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:

• Get hospitalized at a network hospital of the insurance provider
• Fill out the pre-authorization form available at the hospital and give it to the hospital authorities
• The hospital will send the thepre-authorization request to the TPA that needs to be approved by the insurance company or the claims team to initiate cashless hospitalization of the insured elderly person.
• Obtain the treatment after approval and get discharged
• The insurance company will settle the claim with the hospital directly.

• Savings on Premium- Policybazaar.com offers up to 12.5% savings on your premium if you opt for a 2-year policy tenure while buying your senior citizen health policy. Thus, you end up saving a lot of money.
• Expert Advice- A qualified team of experts are available to answer your queries and help you to buy the best senior citizen health insurance policy.
• Instant Policy Purchase- They help you to save a lot of time as you can purchase an insurance policy on Policybazaar.com in less than two minutes.
• Claim Assistance– It also offers claim assistance after you have purchased the policy.