Myths about Senior Citizen Health Insurance

There are several myths surrounding health insurance for senior citizens. Even at this age, many people do not purchase health insurance for their parents or in case of a senior citizen, for themselves because of certain misconceptions. Given below are some myths about health insurance that need to be broken and rules that need to be followed while purchasing health insurance for your parents:

·         Group insurance is sufficient:

This is a very common misconception many people have about health insurance. Many believe that the mediclaim group insurance offered by the company will provide enough cover for their parents. Many employees have been rationalising the cover in order to reduce the steep premium and some of them have taken a step further to exclude parents from the policy. It is very important to not rely on just mediclaim policies to offer health cover to your parents.

·         Pre-existing conditions:

It is true that most of the health insurance policies do not cover pre-existing ailments, especially when it senior citizens. Because of this very reason, many shy away from opting for a health insurance policy as they are under the impression that a pre-existing ailment might make their parents ineligible for a health insurance policy. But a lot of health insurance policies still offer cover if the ailment is not critical or terminal.

·         Insufficient coverage:

Many consider health insurance policies to be useless as they do not offer cover for certain existing conditions. While this is true, almost all of the health insurance policies have a waiting period of four years after which existing diseases are covered. But your parents will still be covered for hospitalisation charges in the first four years for other ailments and accidents.

·         Higher cost:

It is true that health insurance can be slightly more expensive for senior citizens but that should not discourage one from purchasing a health insurance policies. There are many senior citizen health insurance policies in the market that won’t pinch your pocket and offer adequate health cover to your parents.

·         Healthy and fit:

Though your parents might be in their best shape and have no existing ailments, unforeseen circumstances such as age related ailment or a certain illness can hamper their health any time. It is very important to have health insurance for your parents even if they are fit and healthy.