Health Insurance For Parents

As is the case with several things in life, your health is unpredictable to a certain degree, and there is very little control you can exercise on health-related events and contingencies. This holds even more true in the case of the health of your parents since ageing enhances the risk of several diseases, including cardiovascular ailments, diabetes, renal diseases, asthma, and arthritis.

In addition to the prevalence of diseases significantly exacerbated by old age, there are many other medical conditions that may make life more difficult for your parents, ranging from reduced bone strength to a requirement for assistance to carry out their daily tasks.

Therefore, it is utterly important to get a suitable health insurance plan for your parents, one that offers extensive coverage for various health-related ailments, particularly ones that are specific to ageing.

Furthermore, if your parents already suffer from a major ailment or even a minor health issue, it is advisable to opt for a parental insurance plan for them, particularly in light of the ever-rising cost of medical treatment. At Tata AIG, we have a diverse range of medical insurance for parents, plans that have been designed keeping in mind the unique challenges arising out of both minor health issues and critical ailments.

With medical inflation constantly being on the rise, you do not want to have to bear the burden of substantial medical costs in the case of any adverse health-related event happening to your parents or, worse yet, fail to provide them with the required medical treatment owing to a lack of sufficient funds.

Therefore, buying health insurance for parents is not just a prudent financial decision but also one that allows you to have peace of mind with regard to your parents' health. With our extensive network of 7,200 hospitals across the nation, you can access cashless medical insurance and not worry about filing health claims and await their settlement with Tata AIG parental insurance plans. When it comes to health, time, as they say, is money, and you do not want to have to end up on the wrong side of that equation!

As the name suggests, a health insurance plan for parents is a plan that provides them coverage against health-related risks. A majority of parental insurance plans cover hospitalisation expenses whilst some, such as the Tata AIG MediCare line of products, also offer a cover for pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses as well as unique benefits such as the reimbursement for domiciliary hospitalisation.

You may opt for individual health insurance plans for your parents or a family floater health insurance plan that enables you to get medical insurance coverage for multiple family members under the umbrella of one plan. What is more, is that you can enhance the coverage of your existing health insurance plan with the Tata AIG Super Top Up Health Insurance Plan, namely the Tata AIG MediCare Plus. This plan allows you to get medical insurance benefits over and above your regular health insurance plan.

Amidst a time as unprecedented as the one that has resulted from the ongoing Covid-19 global pandemic, it is more important than ever before to look out for and be prepared for any potential health risks. With our Tata AIG health insurance plans comprising a cover for Covid-19, you can opt for parental insurance that provides you not only financial protection against any regular diseases befalling your beloved parents but also covers the horrifying viral infection that has crippled the world for the better part of the past two years.

Whilst looking for the best health insurance plan for your parents, you must consider several factors, including their health insurance requirements based on their medical and family history, the coverage provided by a particular health insurance plan, the flexibility to enhance said coverage, and the premium of the parental insurance plan. In addition to the aforementioned factors, it is also pivotal to prioritise plans that are flexible and allow you to top-up the sum assured and the coverage.

It is important to remember that there is no universal best health insurance for parents; the best medical insurance plan for your parents would be one that covers the various potential health risks they may have to face, including ones arising out of accidents. Therefore, it is critical to assess your parents' health insurance requirements and conduct comprehensive research before selecting parental insurance.

You must compare health insurance plans before making the final selection. Remember that the more through the research, the higher is the likelihood of finding the best health insurance for your parents.

Health is not something to take risks with or leave to chance, and although you may not be in total control of your health or that of your loved ones, you can take several measures to ensure that you are well placed to handle any health-related curveballs concerning your family. In this context, purchasing a health insurance plan for your parents should be on the top of your to-do list.

Here are several reasons why you should purchase health insurance for parents:

• Rising Medical Costs

That the cost of medical treatment has been rising consistently is no secret. From the price of over-the-counter medicines to the fee for your regular medical consultation with your doctor, you must have noticed a hike in most things that are related to medical assistance. One of the easiest ways to manage medical inflation is to purchase a suitable health insurance plan. By choosing the right parental insurance cover, you can secure some peace of mind and not have to constantly worry about the financial implications of a medical emergency or even regular check-ups.

• Increased Risk of Illness With Age

As a general rule, one's health and medical condition are inversely proportional to their age. Several research studies conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) have established the connection between old age and the enhanced risk of critical illnesses, such as cardiovascular diseases and kidney failure.

Furthermore, ageing also leads to an increase in the occurrence of mental health-related issues, including depression and dementia. Hence it is of paramount importance to ensure that you have a suitable health insurance plan in place for your parents - a parental insurance plan that covers not only routine health check-ups but also critical illnesses and accidental injuries.

If your parents are senior citizens, you can look for specific health insurance plans designed for people from that age bracket and get the best medical insurance coverage for your parents. With the specific benefits offered by health insurance for parents above 60 years of age, they as well as you can live a life sans any worry for the cost of medical treatment.

• Pre-existing Disease Cover

In case your parents have a pre-existing disease, you should be even more careful in the selection of the parental insurance plan for them. It is worth noting here that a majority of health insurance plans have a waiting period for the activation of the cover for any pre-existing ailments, thereby leaving you financially vulnerable to the impact of such ailments during the said period.

Therefore, it is advisable to check the terms of a health insurance plan as thoroughly as possible so as to avoid any confusion about the extent of the coverage and the benefits.

• Tax Savings

There are several tax benefits attached to the purchase of health insurance. Under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, all the premium payments paid towards a health insurance plan are exempt from income tax. This exemption is valid for a premium payment of up to ₹25,000, beyond which the premium payments shall be subject to income tax.

However, if you have purchased a health insurance plan for parents above 60 years of age, you are eligible to claim a further tax exemption to the tune of ₹50,000 under Section 80D of the aforementioned legislation.

• Protect Your Savings

By opting for a suitable health insurance plan for parents, you can provide them with sufficient medical assistance should they need it without having to disturb your savings. In exchange for a feasible premium, you get a multitude of benefits, including health insurance coverage for your parents, tax benefits, protection of your savings, and, above all, peace of mind for yourself.

Before purchasing a health insurance plan for your parents, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of its coverage, including both inclusions and exclusions. Here is what is covered under a health insurance plan for your parents.

• Hospitalisation Expenses

Quite often, a medical condition may require your parents to be hospitalised, thereby entailing a substantial financial burden on them and/or you. However, with the Tata AIG MediCare and MediCare Protect Plans, you can have health insurance for your parents that covers the cost of hospitalisation expenses.

• Pre-hospitalisation expenses and post-hospitalisation expenses

Our MediCare and MediCare Protect Health Insurance Plans cover the cost of pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses borne by the policyholder. This way, you get coverage for the medical expenses incurred 30 to 60 days before hospitalisation, depending on the plan you have selected. Furthermore, our range of medical insurance plans comprises a cover for medical expenses borne 60 to 90 days after discharge from a hospital.

• Daycare Procedures

For procedures that require your parents to stay in the hospital for fewer than 24 hours, the expenses are covered under the Daycare Procedures benefit of the Tata AIG MediCare and MediCare Protect Health Insurance Plans. These plans cover more than 540 such procedures and ensure that you and your folks have the required financial support throughout the process.

• AYUSH Benefits

If your parents want to opt for an Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Sidha, or Homeopathy (AYUSH) course of treatment, our medical insurance plans have them covered. All in-patient treatment costs borne from any of the aforementioned treatments are eligible for reimbursement under the Tata AIG MediCare and Tata AIG MediCare Protect plans.

• Pre-existing Illnesses

If you want to opt for medical insurance for your parents that covers any pre-existing diseases, you must ensure that the selected plan has a low waiting period for said coverage to begin. If that is not the case, your parents might as well be without a health insurance cover for the duration of the waiting period.

• Major Surgeries

One important feature to look for in a good health insurance plan is its coverage for major surgeries. Since such procedures are usually quite expensive, it is advisable to opt for plans that include coverage for them. With the Tata AIG MediCare Health Insurance Plans, your parents get coverage for Bariatric Surgery.

• Consumables Benefits

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, MediCare Protect and MediCare Premier Health Insurance plans.

• No Room Rent

With a suitable health insurance plan in place for your parents, they or you need not worry about the room rent during their hospitalisation. This expense is covered under the selected health insurance plan. With the Tata AIG health insurance plans, you can opt-out of room rent limits or select your own.

• Domiciliary Treatment

In the instance of your parents requiring Domiciliary hospitalization, that is, stay-at-home treatment, the Tata AIG MediCare, MediCare Protect and MediCare Premier plans are excellent choices. With the selection of suitable mediclaim for your parents, you can ensure that they get the necessary medical attention even at home.

• In-patient Dental Treatment

Dental treatments are usually short-term and do not require hospitalisation. However, should your parents' dental treatment need them to be hospitalised, the Tata AIG MediCare Premier plan will provide them with sufficient insurance coverage.

• Free Health Check-up

It is important to have regular health check-ups for your parents and to help you cover the costs arising out of said check-ups, you can rely upon our MediCare, MediCare Protect and MediCare Premier plans. With these plans, you can get one per cent of the sum assured under the plan or ₹10,000, whichever is lower, for a routine preventive health check-up.

• Restore Benefit

If the sum assured under your parental insurance plan gets exhausted and they need further financial assistance for their medical treatments, the feature of restore benefit can come to their aid. With this feature, the entirety of the sum assured under the plan for a policy year shall be restored. This feature is available with our MediCare, MediCare Protect and MediCare Premier Health Insurance Plans.

• In-patient Treatment

With Tata AIG's well-designed health insurance plans, your folks can get reimbursements for all the medical expenses pertaining to their in-patient treatments.

• Renewability

It is always advisable to purchase long-term health insurance for your parents so as to avoid the hassle of annual renewals. What is more, is that you can get discounts on long-term health insurance plans. With the Tata AIG health insurance plans, the longer the term of the plan, the higher is the discount you can receive.

For a Tata AIG health insurance plan with a tenure of two years, you are eligible for a 5 per cent discount on the premium. This discount goes up to 10 per cent for a three-year plan. Renewability is also an important factor with respect to the age of the policyholder.

Therefore, you must check the maximum age by which the selected parental insurance plan can be renewed to ensure that your parents are not stuck with a plan that cannot be renewed past a certain age.

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

• Plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery unless necessary as a part of the treatment for an accident, burns, or cancer (as advised by the attending Medical Practitioner);

• Rehabilitation treatment, long-term nursing care;

• Preventive treatments such as vaccinations unless specifically 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 Counter Pulsation and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

• Non-Medical Exclusions

• 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 products, cosmetics, etc used during hospitalisation;

• Treatment from a Medical Practitioner beyond the realms of their dedicated medical discipline;

• 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 Tata AIG MediCare Health Insurance Plan.

There are several key parameters you must look out for whilst selecting a medical insurance policy for your parents. Some of these parameters are as follows:

• Choose the Adequate Sum Insured

It is important to choose an adequate sum Insured in the medical insurance for parents so as to provide them sufficient coverage against a wide gamut of health-related risks. Ideally, you should opt for a health insurance plan with a high cover and a feasible premium.

• Choose the Right Plan and Coverage

You would not buy a household item such as a television or an office article such as a laptop without conducting substantial research, will you? Then why stray from that principle whilst purchasing a health insurance plan for your parents?! Before selecting medical insurance for your parents, you must engage in a significant research endeavour, analysing and comparing various health insurance plans, before selecting the one most suited to your parents’ medical insurance requirements.

• Check the Flexibility of the Plan

A health insurance plan that is flexible and allows you to enhance the coverage in the future is always preferable over one that is set in stone. You cannot predict the extent of your parents' health insurance needs in the future. Therefore, it is prudent to opt for a health insurance plan that has room for changes.

• Check the Waiting Period

You must check the waiting period of the health insurance plan selected for your parents. This period is the time during which the cover for pre-existing illnesses is not active. The waiting period for a pre-existing illness cover is usually between two to five years. In addition to a waiting period for pre-existing illnesses, you must also look out for the initial waiting period of the plan during which non-accidental health insurance claims cannot be filed.

• Check the Maximum Renewal Age

It is wise to check the maximum age permissible for the renewal of a health insurance plan. Whilst this check is significant for any health insurance policy, it is of particular importance if you are purchasing health insurance for parents above 60 years of age. Therefore, opt for a health insurance plan that has a high maximum renewal age to provide continuous medical insurance coverage to your parents. It is always advisable to select a health insurance plan that offers lifelong renewals.

• Choose an Insurer with a Good Claim Settlement Ratio and Credibility

While purchasing any product or service, trust and credibility are priceless. With the values of trust and customer satisfaction deeply rooted in the Tata brand for decades, you can be assured of quality products and service delivery. What is more, is that our claim settlement ratio adds quantitative evidence to our reputation for providing quality services. During the financial year 2019-2020, Tata AIG settled 96.43 per cent of the health insurance claims received during the year.

• Select an Insurer with a record for a smooth claim settlement process

By selecting an insurer that has a seamless claims process, you ensure that your health insurance claims experience will be mostly hassle-free. And that is precisely what you will get should you opt for a Tata AIG health insurance plan. With our streamlined and customer-friendly claims process and our 24*7 support team, your health insurance claim shall be filed and processed sans any bottlenecks. You can file an online health insurance claim with us here.

• Opt for an Insurer that offers Cashless Hospitalisation and has a Wide Hospital Network

The wider the hospital network of an insurance provider, the easier and more feasible it is for you to benefit from the cashless claims facet of your health insurance plan. With a nationwide network of more than 7,200 hospitals, Tata AIG health insurance assistance is never far away from you. And if you cannot access a network hospital, there is no need to worry about the medical expenses. You can easily file a reimbursement claim with us, and we will have the expenses reimbursed.

• Check the Premium of the Plan

One of the most important factors to consider whilst selecting a health insurance plan for parents is the premium. You can utilise our health insurance premium calculator to compute the premium for our different health insurance plans. The premium for a health insurance plan depends on several factors, including the age of the policyholder, the sum assured under the plan, the health condition of the policyholder, and the selected health insurance add-ons.

• Peruse the Policy Exclusions

You must ensure that you have a clear understanding of all the exclusions from the health insurance plan selected for your parents. This understanding is vital to the selection of a suitable health insurance plan that is in alignment with your parents' medical conditions and insurance requirements.

• Include the Adequate Health Insurance Riders

There is one thing common between a health insurance plan and a pizza, as bizarre as that sounds. You can customise the components and flavour of both by adding the required add-ons or toppings. With the addition of suitable health insurance add-on riders, you can enhance the coverage of your parental insurance plan, including a cover for critical illness.