Why Parents Should Not Be Included in the Existing Health Cover?
People in India live with their parents and extend their financial support to them in their old age. They take care of their health, provide them their basic needs and also cover them in their health insurance. But experts’ opinion that it is not a good idea to include parents in the existing health cover, but rather buy separate health insurance policies for them. There are several health insurance policies in India with options to include parents in the existing plan. These family floater health insurance plans that cover the earning member, spouse, children, and parents are not much beneficial from a financial perspective.
Why Parents Should Not Be Included in the Existing Health Cover?
The reasons why parents should not be included in the existing health insurance plan are as follows.
1. Increased Premiums:
The Premiums of these family floater health insurance plans are fixed based on the age of the eldest member in the family. Also, the policy will terminate when the eldest member in the family reaches the maximum age that has been stated in the policy. After the policy terminates, it is pertinent to buy separate insurance plans, compromising the benefits of the past claim history, and all accrued bonuses will be canceled. Thus, it is not a bad idea to buy separate health insurance for parents.
2. Pre-existing Diseases Will Influence the Premium Cost:
The premiums of health insurance policies for people with pre-existing diseases will be higher than for healthy individuals. Elders in the family can have some pre-existing diseases such as diabetes or hypertension and this can escalate the cost of insurance to yield coverage for the entire family.
3. It Will Affect the No-Claim Bonus:
In family floater plans, the no-claim bonus will vanish instantly if any of the family members make a claim. With age, the health deteriorates faster and the chances of making a claim are also higher. Thus, if the parents are included in the present health insurance plan, the incidence of them getting hospitalized will be more and this can affect the accumulated no-claim bonus of the plan. If they are covered under a separate plan, then the bonus of only their policy will be affected.
4. Coverage May Not Be Sufficient:
The more the number of family members covered under an insurance plan, the lesser is the benefit for the individual members. When all the members share the same sum insured and if the elder members in the family keep hospitalized frequently and deplete the sum insured, then the coverage may not be sufficient for other members in the family. Thus it is important to think twice before including parents in the existing health cover, and if at all it is mandatory, then opt for a higher sum assured for the policy.
Bottom Line
Thus, the best way is to opt for comprehensive health insurance for the parents that cover all their medical needs with the renewability feature and with a longer tenure. There are many impressive health insurance plans for senior citizens and opting for them will be a better choice than covering them in the existing plan.
