Health facilities are getting expensive day by day. Along with this, people are also facing many diseases due to changing lifestyle. In such a situation, if you are looking for a family floater plan to ensure the health security of your life partner, children and parents, then first take complete information about it.
At present, many health insurance companies are offering a new policy option with add-on benefits for the parents. However, let us tell you that it is not wise to add parents to the family health insurance policy. To know why this is so, you have to understand a few things. There are two things to keep in mind while buying a health cover- the cost of healthcare and medical inflation.
Any member of the family can use the sum assured
According to Amit Chhabra, Business Head, PolicyBazaar.com, the entire sum assured resides among the members of the family covered in the family floater plan. Any member can use the Sum Assured. For example, if you buy a family floater plan of Rs 20 lakh, then any member of the family can use the sum assured up to the sum assured.
Premium depends on the eldest person in the family
The cost of health insurance premium depends on the age of the insured. This means that the premium of the family floater health insurance plan will depend on the age of the eldest member of your family. In such a situation, as a senior citizen, you will have to pay a higher premium for a family floater plan. In such a situation, it is advisable to get health insurance only when you are young. It is clear that you will be more fit at 25 than at 50. Your health condition largely determines the premium and sum assured at the time of purchasing the policy. Let us look at these examples to understand it better.
Examples
- Let’s say you have a family floater plan with a sum insured of Rs 5 lakh. Insured persons include you (35 years), wife (27 years) and your son (5 years) who do not have any pre-existing disease. In such a situation, if you have bought a policy from Star Health, then you will have to pay a premium of only Rs 1,308 monthly or Rs 15,688 annually.
- If the parents (father 65 years and mother 60 years) are added to this, then the age of the senior member of the family will become 65 years. This will increase the premium of the policy. Here the premium may have to be paid up to Rs 2,788 monthly or Rs 33,453 annually. Further, your policy will terminate as soon as the eldest member of the health insurance policy reaches the maximum age set by the policy.
According to Amit Chhabra, both the premium and the sum assured, especially in a family floater plan, are determined by the age of the oldest member of the family. If the age of the eldest member of the family is between 26 to 40 years, then it will be beneficial for you. Usually we should buy a separate scheme for senior citizens. Senior Citizen Specific Plans are specially designed to meet their old age needs.
The total premium expense cannot be impacted while buying a special policy for the parents, but the Sum Assured can be affected. A better sum assured can be obtained for the same amount.
What if you already have a disease?
Our elders usually have various pre-existing diseases. Among these, blood pressure and diabetes are the most common. In such a situation, if the policyholder has pre-existing diseases, then the premium for such plans will have to be higher as their risk of falling ill is also high. Thus, there is no point in adding a parent to your family floater plan and increasing the premium. You will not get any benefit from this in future.
Will one health insurance suffice for all family members?
When you include a parent in a health insurance plan, the premium increases and the sum assured always goes down. In such a situation, a policy of Rs 10 lakh may be sufficient for a family of four. But the need for the involvement of parents in this will reduce its effectiveness. Even in case of multiple hospitalizations in a year, the sum insured may not be enough to meet the needs of everyone. During the corona epidemic, many such instances were seen, where the whole family got corona together.
How to choose a plan for parents
As we age, we fall prey to many diseases, which are costly to treat. Many companies provide health insurance for the elderly and senior citizens. These are specially designed for people above 55-60 years of age. They cover a wide range of conditions affecting the elderly.
Select this type of policy
According to Chhabra, opt for a policy that offers guaranteed coverage. Check if the policy has a shorter waiting period for pre-existing conditions. In case of a medical emergency, it is better to have a cashless hospital nearby.
He says that if you still want to take a single health insurance policy for the entire family (including senior citizen parents), be prepared to pay higher premiums and increase the sum insured.