Health Insurance for Parents: Buy Mediclaim Policy for

Health insurance plans for parents are insurance plans that provide comprehensive financial coverage against medical expenses. A mediclaim policy for parents usually covers a wide range of health-related expenses, from minor health issues to major health complications.

These plans offer a high sum insured and come with several additional benefits, such as coverage for pre-existing diseases and pre and post-hospitalisation expenses.

Sufficient funds during a medical emergency The primary reason why parents need a dedicated health insurance policy for themselves is so that they have sufficient funds and access to quality healthcare services when the need arises.

A medical insurance plan ensures your parents need not delay getting treatment for an illness that may seem to be minor on the surface but transform into a major health issue if left unattended.

Financial Independence If you live abroad or in another city within the country, reaching your parents may take a while if a medical emergency strikes. A mediclaim policy for parents provides them with financial independence. In case of a medical emergency, your parents need not wait for you to reach them or send them money and can get immediate medical attention.

**With Tata AIG, your insured parents can approach any of our 7200+ network hospitals spread across the country and get cashless treatment or approach any nearby hospital and get the bills reimbursed later.

Compensation for lack of income If your parents are retired from their working life, they may not have a steady income source. Paying hefty medical bills can be a task without a regular income. A health insurance plan keeps your parents safe from paying for costly medical treatments or asking around for help to pay the hospital bills.

Keeping the family savings intact A lack of a health insurance plan can drain all your family savings if a family member falls ill or meets with an accident. If you or any other family member requires these savings for other purposes like paying college fees or wedding expenses, you may find yourself in a fix.

A health insurance plan for parents ensures that your savings remain unaffected, and you can continue with other life plans while your elderly get the best medical care when required.

In India, you can choose from 3 health insurance plans for your parents based on their age and your insurance needs. All these 3 categories of health insurance provide comprehensive coverage to your ageing parents.

Senior Citizen Health Insurance The first type of health insurance plan for parents is a senior citizen health insurance plan that is designed to take care of the medical insurance needs of people beyond the age of 60. It provides benefits over and above a regular health insurance plan.

If you are looking for health insurance for parents above 60, Tata AIG has the ideal solution for you. Our senior citizen health insurance plan is packed with benefits at an affordable price. It especially covers medical and health issues that arise with age to take care of the exclusive needs of senior citizens. To know more about our Senior Citizen Health Insurance plan, click here.

Individual Health Insurance Parents below the age of 60 deserve as much care and support as senior citizen parents. An individual health insurance plan is a suitable option to take care of the medical expenses of parents below the age of 60.

You can take an individual health insurance plan for each of your parents to protect them financially against accidents, illnesses, and other health-related issues.

Our Tata AIG individual health insurance plan comes with a cover for the Coronavirus to protect the insured against the deadly pandemic. To know more about our individual health insurance plan, click here.

Family Health Insurance** Every family has different insurance needs. If you wish to cover your entire family along with your parents under the health insurance umbrella but do not want to purchase individual health insurance plans for each of your family members, you can choose a family health insurance plan.

With the Tata AIG family health insurance plan, you need to pay a single premium for a single sum insured to cover all your dependent family members, including your parents. To know more about our individual health insurance plan, click here.

Protection against increasing healthcare costs With advancements in medical treatments and cures available, the cost of healthcare has seen exponential growth in the last few years. Moreover, medical emergencies and health issues come unannounced even if an individual takes good care of his health, especially at an advanced age.

Without a health insurance policy in place, it may get difficult to provide quality healthcare services to your parents. Therefore, medical insurance for parents protects you from high expenses and enables you to provide your parents with the best healthcare facilities in their old age.

Protection against rising lifestyle diseases Changing lifestyles have affected every individual’s health, especially people in their old age. The rising level of stress, food and water contamination, pollution, unhealthy eating and sleeping habits, and other similar new-age problems expose our elderly, who already have low immunity, to several health risks.

Investing in parental insurance at an early stage can help you cope with the expenses for the treatment of such lifestyle diseases.

Tax benefits** Medical insurance for parents tax benefit is another significant benefit of buying health insurance for your parents. To promote good healthcare facilities for the elderly, there are tax benefits on the premiums you pay for a health insurance plan for your parents.

Under section 80 D of the Income Tax Act, you can get a tax benefit of up to ₹ 50,000 on the premiums you pay for your parent’s health insurance plan if they are below the age of 60 and a tax benefit of up to ₹ 75,000 if they are above the age of 60.

Coverage for pre-existing diseases Another significant benefit of buying a mediclaim policy for parents is that it covers pre-existing diseases for your parents after the completion of a statutory waiting period. This way, you need not worry about the cost of treatment for health complications that developed before you could purchase a health policy for your parents.

Health insurance plans for parents usually have wide coverage. However, it is essential to understand what is their exact scope of coverage before purchasing a mediclaim policy for your parents so that there are no unpleasant surprises later on. Here is what a parental insurance plan covers**

Hospitalisation expenses If your insured parent needs to get hospitalised for medical treatment, a mediclaim policy covers its cost up to the insured limit.

Pre and post-hospitalisation expenses Not only does a health insurance policy cover the expenses entailed during your insured parent’s stay at the hospital, but it also covers expenses borne by you 30 to 60 days before hospitalisation and 60 to 90 days after hospitalisation. This limit may vary depending on the insurance plan and the insurer you choose.

AYUSH benefits If your parents want to get treatment under the Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, or Homeopathy (AYUSH) course of treatment, you can get coverage for them under a parental insurance policy.

With Tata AIG, all in-patient treatment costs borne from any of the aforementioned treatments are eligible for reimbursement under our Tata AIG MediCare and Tata AIG MediCare Protect plans.

Daycare procedures Certain treatments, like treatment for varicose veins or cataract treatment, may require your parents to stay at the hospital for less than 24 hours. A mediclaim policy for parents covers the cost of treatment for such procedures. Our Tata AIG health insurance plans cover daycare expenses for over 540 such procedures, ensuring the best medical care for your parents.

Major surgeries Surgeries are often serious and expensive. The best health insurance for parents covers the expenses of several surgeries. With the Tata AIG MediCare Health Insurance Plans, your parents get coverage for Bariatric Surgery.

Consumables benefit With Tata AIG, if your parents are hospitalised due to any of the medical conditions covered in the selected health insurance plan, they shall also receive reimbursement for the cost of the consumables directly related to the treatment. This benefit is available under both the Tata AIG MediCare plans; MediCare Protect and MediCare Premier Health Insurance.

Room rent Some parental insurance plans also cover the expenses your parents have to pay for the hospital room rent if they must be hospitalised for medical care.

Domiciliary treatment Not every medical treatment requires hospitalisation. Sometimes, treatment can be provided to the patient, even at home. The Tata AIG health insurance plan for parents covers such stay-at-home treatment so that your parents get excellent medical care and treatment even without hospitalisation.

In-patient dental treatment Dental treatments that require hospitalisation for your parents are covered under a parental insurance policy.

Health check-ups Regular health check-ups can give timely information about a health issue which could escalate into a major medical condition. Health insurance for parents covers the cost of health check-ups for your insured parents up to a certain limit. Our parental insurance plans provide one per cent of the sum insured or ₹ 10,000, whichever is lesser, for routine preventive health check-ups.

Restore benefit Medical treatment can often cost more than you have estimated. If your parents consume the entire sum insured under their health insurance plan and require further financial assistance for their medical treatment during the policy year, they can make use of the ‘restore benefit’ feature with their mediclaim policy. This feature restores the entire sum insured under the policy for the concerned financial year.

Renewability You must regularly renew your parental insurance plans so that they are not deprived of medical care at any point in time. With Tata AIG, you can buy long-term health insurance plans to save yourself from the hassle of renewing the policy every year.

Moreover, you get discounts on policy premiums on long-term health insurance plans with us. For example, a two-year health plan can get you a discount of 5% on the premium, and a three-year health plan can get you a discount of up to 10% on the policy premium.

As important as it is to have clarity on what is included in the health insurance plan for your parents, it is also equally vital to understand what is excluded from the said plan. Here are some of the exclusions in a health insurance plan.

Medical Exclusions of Health Insurance Plans for Parents

• Plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery, unless necessary, as part of the treatment for an accident, burn, or cancer (as advised by the attending medical practitioner).

• Rehabilitation treatment

• Long-term nursing care

• Preventive treatments such as vaccinations, unless included in the plan

• Hospitalisation for enteral feedings

• Treatments that are experimental in nature or have not been certified by the requisite medical authority, for instance, External Counterpulsation and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Non-Medical Exclusions of Health Insurance Plans for Parents

• Charges for diagnostics, including X-ray and laboratory tests, unless when they are part of the diagnosis of a specific illness that requires hospitalisation.

• Items required for personal comfort at a hospital, for instance, television, telephone, and the internet.

• Hygiene-related articles, body-care parts, cosmetics, etc., used during hospitalisation.

• Treatment from a medical practitioner beyond the realm of their dedicated medical discipline.

• The fee paid to a doctor living in the same house as the patient or one that is related to the patient.

• It is advisable to refer to the policy wordings for a comprehensive list of inclusions and exclusions from the insurer.

• Identity proof (Passport/ Driving Licence/ Aadhar Card/ Voter ID Card)

• Age proof (PAN/ Aadhar Card/ Voter ID Card/ Passport/ Driving Licence/ Birth Certificate)

• Proof of residence (PAN/ Ration Card/ Driving Licence/ Aadhar Card/ Utility Bills/ Rent Agreement)

• Detailed medical history

• Medical reports for pre-existing health conditions

Along with these documents, you may be required to submit a few more documents depending on your medical history and the policy requirements. It is advisable to check with the insurer for the exact list of documents required.

If your parents have undergone treatment at one of our network hospitals, you can file for a cashless claim under our health insurance plans for parents. Here is how you can file for a cashless claim with Tata AIG in a few simple steps**

Step 1 Send us your cashless insurance claim via email within 24 hours of being hospitalised. If you have a hospitalisation scheduled in advance, it is advisable to inform us before you get admitted to a hospital.

Step 2 After receiving your health insurance claim form, you will be issued a Claim Intimation/Reference Number, which you should retain for further correspondence regarding the claim.

Step 3 Submit the documents listed below along with the cashless claim form

A copy of your insured parent’s health insurance policy

Their insurance card

A photo identity proof and address proof of the insured

A duly filled CKYC form (if the claim value is more than ₹ 1 lakh)

Step 4 On receiving the claim form and all relevant documents, we will issue an authorisation letter to the network hospital where your parents got treatment and pay the bills.

If your insured parent got medical treatment at a medical care facility that is not a part of our network hospitals, they can pay the bills at the time of the treatment and get reimbursed from us later. Here is how you can file for a reimbursement claim with Tata AIG in a few simple steps**

Step 1 Email a reimbursement form for your parent’s health insurance claim to us and attach the following documents with it**

A copy of your insured parent’s health insurance policy

A copy of their hospital discharge certificate

The pathological test reports related to their treatment

A Medical Certificate (signed by a registered medical practitioner)

The original hospital and pharmacy bills

A duly filled CKYC form (if the claim value is more than ₹ 1 lakh)

NEFT details (for the account in which you want to receive the reimbursement amount)

Step 2 On receiving the reimbursement claim form and all the documents, we will verify their authenticity and applicability.

Step 3 Upon successful verification of the documents, we will process the claim and transfer the reimbursement amount to your bank account.

To initiate a claim with Tata AIG, click here.

A health insurance plan gains paramount importance in old age. Therefore, you must be cautious before choosing a mediclaim policy for your elderly. Here are a few things you can keep in mind before selecting a health policy for your parents**

Adequate coverage As the chances of falling ill increase as one progresses with age, you must choose a health insurance plan that provides coverage for a variety of medical conditions and health-related situations so that your parents can enjoy coverage for a number of ailments.

A high sum insured Not only should a parental insurance plan cover a wide range of medical conditions, but it should also provide a high sum insured so that there is no dearth of funds and your parents can get quality medical care at a trusted medical care facility when the need arises.

Entry age Different health insurance plans have different entry ages for the insured. If your parents are below 60 years of age, you can buy a routine health policy for them. On the other hand, if they are over 60 years, you can buy senior citizen health insurance for them.

Plan flexibility As your parents get older, you may require enhanced insurance coverage for them. Therefore, it is advisable to choose a mediclaim policy for them that is flexible and will accommodate the changing insurance needs of your parents.

Waiting period A health insurance plan comes with a waiting period within which you cannot get insurance coverage for your parents for their pre-existing medical conditions. Additionally, there is a mandatory initial waiting period for every health insurance plan during which you cannot file for an insurance claim.

**As healthcare needs become more and more unpredictable with age, you may look for a parental insurance plan that has a short initial waiting period and pre-existing medical conditions waiting period.

Network hospitals Network hospitals are partnering hospitals for your insurer, where the insured can get quick, quality, and cashless medical treatment. Check the list of network hospitals from the insurer to ensure there are sufficient reputed hospitals in your parents’ vicinity where they can get medical treatment without any hassle. Tata AIG has a wide network of 7200+ network hospitals where your parents can get quality healthcare without any stress.

Claim settlement ratio The claim settlement ratio is the number of claims settled by an insurer during a financial year as compared to the number of claims filed. A high claim settlement ratio indicates that the insurer is trustworthy and your chances of getting your claim settled are fair with them. At Tata AIG, we take pride in our deep-rooted values of trust and customer satisfaction, and we ensure a transparent and hassle-free claim settlement process for our insured customers.

Insurance premium The health insurance policy premium may be slightly higher for parental insurance plans than individual plans. Therefore, always check the policy premiums and the coverage offered in its correspondence before finalising a health plan.

Adequate riders You can add insurance riders to your parents’ mediclaim policy. These add-ons increase the coverage scope of the health policy and ensure your parents get sufficient funds for the best medical care they need.

It is advisable to compare health insurance online before choosing the best health insurance for parents. With Tata AIG, you can get extensive coverage for your parents under a single health insurance plan and ensure that they have adequate financial protection against minor and major health-related issues.

Protecting your parents' health and financial security during their golden years is invaluable. Choosing the right health insurance policy can be the cornerstone of their well-being. Remember, this isn't just about finances; it's about ensuring they can receive quality care without worry.

By understanding the types of plans available and considering key features like coverage, exclusions, and premiums, you can make an informed decision that suits your parents' needs.

Remember, crucial steps include comparing options, consulting experts, and regularly reviewing the policy. Take action today, equip yourself with knowledge, and choose the perfect Mediclaim for parents to give them the gift of peace of mind and a healthier future. Their well-being, after all, is an investment worth making.