As life goes on most people contract some disease or the other.
Senior citizens find it extremely difficult to get health insurance policy.
A thread🧵on alternatives available for senior citizens to buy a health insurance policy.
Why do senior citizens find it difficult to get health insurance policies?
As life goes on our vulnerability to developing diseases increases manyfold.
Chances of contracting diseases like
1. Hypertension
2. Diabetes
3. Knee or joint pain
increases!
Some diseases where getting a policy is extremely difficult:
🩺Cancer
🩺People who are on insulin(for diabetes)
🩺Heart patients with bypass surgery
🩺People suffering from critical life diseases
An insurer’s interest in acquiring you as a customer, and covering you, is inversely proportionate to your age.
The older you get, the lesser the chances of you getting approved into the top plans in the country.
So what should u do?
Firstly have proper documentation
Assess the health of ur parents or senior citizens.
Make a list of all the past medical history of them.
Now here are the options:
1. A comprehensive policy:-
A comprehensive policy is available until the age of 60-65.
These are the best policies available
Detailed analysis of these policies here: https://twitter.com/AdityaD_Shah/status/1607250433516662784?s=19
Even if the senior citizen suffers from a disease these policies can be issued with a waiting period.
The waiting period can be 1-3 years.
Since a comprehensive policy has some good features, it can be expensive.
2. Senior Citizens policy:
In order to cater exclusively to senior citizens many insurers like Star Health, and Niva Bupa have come up with senior citizen plans.
Some of these policies may include
🩺Co-pays
🩺Room rent limits
🩺sub limits on various diseases
These policies are specifically designed for senior citizens.
The premium is generally lower than the normal comprehensive policies.
3. If none of the two options are available:-
You can go and buy:-
A group health insurance policy issued by Banks:-
These policies may be easier to buy and may be cheaper.
A detailed analysis of the policy: https://twitter.com/AdityaD_Shah/status/1608054841867407360?s=19
4. Employer health insurance policy of the child(if any):
Most employers in India provide 3L-5L of health insurance policies for people who are working in the companies.
These policies also cover family members and parents.
These policies may come with several riders and may be terminated on employment.
Even though these policies may not be ideal.
They can be used as policies of last resort.
Conclusion:
As age goes on….the risk of contracting diseases increases.
Buying a health insurance policy for Senior citizens is not easy.
Here is the order in which you should approach health insurance:
1. A comprehensive policy
2. A senior citizens policy
3. A bank-based group insurance policy
4. Employer insurance for ur children
Buying health insurance as early as possible in life will help u avoid all of these problems.
sc: https://twitter.com/AdityaD_Shah/status/1708695603226767674?s=19