Senior Citizen Health Insurance Plan in India for 60+ Years Old
What is Senior Citizen Health Insurance?
A Health Insurance for Senior Citizens is a type of health insurance policy customized for people over 60 years old. This health insurance for senior citizens is designed to suit the needs of elderly people and financially covers for medical expenses such as Critical Illnesses and Accidental Hospitalization, Annual Health Checkups, Daycare Procedures, Organ Donation Expenses, et al while it also includes special benefits such as Home Hospitalization and Psychiatric Support.
You know what they say, life always comes back a full circle.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that the people who once cared and protected us through it all now need us to protect them. To be there for them. Through thick and thin. Especially when it comes to keeping them in the pinkest of their health. After all, it’s now one of the primary things they think about and often worry over. After their grandchildren, of course! 😉
Why should you get a Senior Citizen Health Insurance for your Parents?
What's great about Health Insurance for Senior Citizens by Digit?
What’s covered in our Health Insurance?
Coverages
Double Wallet Plan
Infinity Wallet Plan
Worldwide Treatement Plan
Important Features
This covers for all hospitalization expenses including due to an Illness, Accident, Critical Illness or even pandemics like Covid 19. It can be used to cover for multiple hospitalizations, as long as the total expenses are up to your sum insured.
You need to wait for a defined period from the first day of your policy to get covered for treatment related to any non-accidental illness. This is the Initial Waiting period.
Exclusive Wellness Benefits like Home Healthcare, Tele consultations, Yoga and Mindfullness and many more available on our App.
We provide a back-up Sum Insured which is 100% of your Sum Insured amount. How does Sum Insured Back Up work? Suppose your policy Sum Insured is Rs. 5 lac. You make a claim of Rs.50,000. Digit automatically triggers the wallet benefit. So you now have 4.5lac + 5 lac Sum Insured available for the year. However, one single claim, cannot be more than the base Sum Insured as in the above case, 5 lac. .
No claims in the Policy year? You get a bonus -an additional amount in your total sum-insured for staying healthy & claim free!
Different categories of rooms have different rents. Just like how hotel rooms have tarrifs. Digit plans give you the benefit of having no room rent cap, as long as it is below your Sum Insured..
Health insurance covers medical expenses only for hospitalizations exceeding 24 hours. Day care procedures refer to medical treatments undertaken in a hospital, requiring less than 24 hours due to technological advancement such as cataract, dialysis etc.
Get a world class treatment with the Worldwide Coverage! If your doctor identifies an illness during your health examination in India and you wish to get a treatment abroad, then we’re there for you.You’re covered!
We pay for your health check-up expenses upto the amount mentioned in your Plan. No restrictions on the kind of tests! Be it ECG or Thyroid Profile. Make sure you go through your policy schedule to check the claim limit.
There may be emergency life-threatening health conditions which may require immediate transportation to hospital. We absolutely understand this and reimburse for expenses incurred for your transportation to a hospital in airplane or helicopter.
Co-Payment means a cost sharing requirement under a Health Insurance Policy that provides that the Policyholder/Insured will bear a specified percentage of the admissible claims amount. It does not reduce the Sum Insured. This percentage depends on various factors like age, or sometimes also on your treatment city called zone based copayment. In our plans, there is no age based or zone based Co payment involved.
Get reimbursed for the expenses of road ambulance, in case you are hospitalized.
This cover is for all expenses before and after hospitalization such as for diagnosis, tests and recovery.
Other Features
The disease or condition that you are already suffering with and have disclosed to us before taking the policy and has been accepted by us has a waiting period as per plan opted and mentioned in your Policy Schedule.
This is the amount of time you need to wait for, until you can make a claim for a specific illness. At Digit it is 2 years and starts from the day of policy activation. For the full list of exclusions, read Standard Exclusions (Excl02) of your policy wordings.
If You sustain an Accidental Bodily Injury during the Policy Period, which is the sole and direct cause of Your Death within twelve (12) months from the date of accident, then We will pay 100% of the Sum Insured as mentioned in Policy Schedule against this cover and as per plan opted.
Your organ donor gets covered in your policy. We also take care of the pre and post hospitalization expenses of the donor. Organ donating is one of the kindest deeds ever and we thought to ourselves, why not be a part of it!
Hospitals can go out of beds, or the patient’s condition may be rough to get admitted in a hospital. Don’t panic! We cover you for the medical expenses even if you get treatment at home.
Obesity may be the root cause of so many health issues. We absolutely understand this, and cover for Bariatric Surgery when it is medically necessary and advised by your doctor. However, we DONOT cover if hospitalization for this treatment is for cosmetic reasons.
If due to a trauma, a member has to be hospitalized for a psychiatric treatment, it will be covered under this benefit, upto INR 1,00,000. However, OPD consultations are not covered under this. The waiting period for Psychiatric Illness Cover is same as Specific Illness waiting period.
Before, during & after hospitalization, there are many other medical aids & expenditures such as walking aids, crepe bandages, belts, etc.,which need your pocket’s attention.This cover takes care of these expenses that are otherwise excluded from the policy.
What’s not Covered?
How to file a Claim?
Key Benefits of Health Insurance for Senior Citizens by Digit
Co-payment |
No |
Room Rent Capping |
No |
Cashless Hospitals |
16400+ Network Hospitals across India |
Inbuilt Personal Accident Cover |
Yes |
Wellness Benefits |
Available from 10+ Wellness Partners |
City Based Discount |
Up to 10% Discount |
Worldwide Coverage |
Yes* |
Good Health Discount |
Up to 10% Discount |
Consumables Cover |
Available as an Add-on |
Health Insurance through the St(ages)
Why a Health Insurance for Senior Citizens is so important?
Know more about Health Insurance for Senior Citizens
What is a Senior Citizen Health Insurance?
A Senior Health Insurance is a type of health insurance policy customized for people over 60 years of age. We’re all aware that with age, the risk of illnesses big and small increase due to the changes in our bodies and lifestyle.
With this, our healthcare expenses too rise. Therefore, this health insurance for senior citizens is designed to suit the needs of elderly people and financially covers for medical expenses such as hospitalization, different illnesses, annual check-ups, accidents, medical treatments and critical illnesses such as cancer, cardiac arrest, lung diseases, and kidney failures, amongst others.
Some special benefits of this senior health insurance also include domiciliary care and psychiatric support.
Why should I take a Senior Citizen Health Insurance online?
Chances are, you’re probably looking at buying a health insurance for your senior parents or are perhaps a senior citizen yourself, looking to secure your health and wealth at this crucial point in life. Either ways, this is something you’ve never done before and are probably confused with the number of options available.
You have so many doubts. Questions. Apprehensions. You only want the best for yourself, for your parents. That’s when buying a senior health insurance online makes sense. You don’t only have everything at the ease of your fingertips but, can research and evaluate your choices at the comfort of your home.
Moreover, you can even minimize lengthy paperwork and make your life so much easier with an online health insurance. So, sit back. Read. Understand and then pick a health insurance you think would suit you or your parents the best. Take your time. After all, everything is now just a few buttons away.
What are the advantages of a Senior Citizen Health Insurance Policy?
Many times, a lot of us just purchase a health insurance blindly for the sake of tax benefits. However, that’s often the wrong way to look at health insurance.
Today, we live in a world where the cost of healthcare is only increasing and unfortunately, so are illnesses and medical problems. Moreover, when it comes to the elderly, their bodies are perpetually changing, making them less immune to diseases and illnesses.
A health insurance that’s truly designed for them would in fact lead to many advantages and help us and our loved ones in times of need. Following are some advantages of a health insurance, especially when it comes to senior citizens:
a. Secure your hard-earned savings and protect yourself from hefty expenses that may arise due to illnesses, medical emergencies and even accidents.
b. Always be assured of your health and well-being. After all, our health insurance for senior citizens offers the benefit of free annual health check-ups and even psychiatric support.
c. Peace of mind. Obvious, but true. Planning for the unplanned always puts us in a less stressful situation.
Know more about Income tax benefits for Senior Citizens & Health Insurance Tax Benefits.
What makes the best Health Insurance plan for senior citizens?
The best health insurance plan for seniors is not one that comes with a lower premium but, one that factors in everything that an elderly person needs. When people turn older, their bodies are in a perpetual state of change. Moreover, their mental health too begins to be affected due to the changes in their lifestyle.
Therefore, pick a health insurance plan that not only gives you a cost effective premium and huge sum insured but, also protects you and your senior parents against all possible situations. What are the processes involved? Do they cover all kinds of illnesses? What are their claim settlements like? Do they offer treatments at home too? These are just some questions you could ask yourself. After all, the whole point of a health insurance is to ensure they’ll always be protected, no matter what.
Compare Health Insurance for Senior Citizens
If you’ve never bought a health insurance for senior citizens online, it’s only natural to be confused about not only the different terminologies but, decide as to which health insurance would really work for you or your senior parents. Therefore, we’ve put together the most important things you should look for and compare between different senior health insurance plans:
- Sum Insured: Sum Insured refers to the maximum amount you’ll be compensated for in case of a health insurance claim. Therefore, this is probably one of the most important things you should compare! Don’t go in for cheap plans blindly but look at the returns you will reap when you really need to use the health insurance and make a claim.
- Real Benefits: Like you would do for any other important documents, do read senior health insurance policies carefully and compare the real benefits (including their conditions) and then make a choice as to what suits your needs the best.
- Claim Settlement Record: The whole point of purchasing a senior health policy is so that you can benefit from health claims. Therefore, compare how different health insurance companies settle their claims. What’s their claim settlement ratio? How easy is it to settle claims, etc
- Processes: As mentioned above, look at the Claim Processes of different health insurance companies and go for one that seems the simplest and quickest of them all.
- Premium: This is something everyone compares, no doubt! However, it’s important to not only compare premium prices blindly but also look at how cost effective it is, does it cover everything you need, is the sum insured justified for the amount you’re paying, etc.
What is Cashless Claim?
As the name suggests, a cashless claim is when you won’t be required to pay anything from your pocket. However, this is only possible if you’re being treated at one of our network hospitals.
How to settle a cashless health claim?
1. Get in touch with us via phone call or email, before 72 hours of the hospitalization in case of a planned hospitalization or, within 24 hours of the hospitalization in case of an emergency.
2. Share your health card/copy of e-card along with an ID proof with the concerned hospital authority and obtain the pre-authorization form from the hospital.
3. Fill in the form, sign and submit to the concerned hospital authority.
4. Ensure that the hospital shares your signed form to the Third-Party Administrator (TPA) or Service Provider for further processing.
5. Once your form is processed, the TPA will issue an authorization letter after confirming the claim along with your policy terms and conditions directly with the hospital.
6. Once everything is approved and you have a go-ahead, the required treatment must take place within 15 days from the date the respective form was filled in.
What is Reimbursement Claim?
One of the most common claims used is the reimbursement claim. This is mainly because, whether you go to one of our network hospitals or not, this kind of claim can be used at any hospital in India. All you have to is submit required documents in due time and receive the reimbursement amount from us.
What is the process to settle a reimbursement claim?
1. Inform us or the TPA within 48 hours of hospitalization or treatment for which you’re using the hospital services.
2. Submit all original documents and bills related to your hospitalization or treatment within 30 days of discharge.
3. Our team will go through the documents submitted and reimburse the required amount within 30 days. In case we don’t, we’ll be liable to pay an interest of an additional 2% than the current bank interest rate to you.
When is the right time to buy a Senior Citizen Health Insurance policy?
A Senior Health Insurance plan is designed for people of 60 years or more. Therefore, one should buy the same once they’ve touched 60 or post retirement, so that they can secure their savings, whilst also ensure good health and well-being.
Mistakes to avoid while purchasing a Health Insurance for Senior Citizens
- Choosing a very low sum insured
- Not declaring existing health and lifestyle conditions
- Not customizing the senior health insurance plan with add-ons to suit additional needs.
- Not reading the policy documents carefully
- Solely purchasing a senior health insurance plan for tax benefits only
How the premium is calculated for Senior Citizen Health Insurance?
This is how we and most health insurance companies calculate senior health insurance premiums:
- Age of senior citizen: Although a senior health insurance policy is designed for anyone above 60 years of age, the risk of health issues still increases with age. Therefore, whilst calculating one’s health insurance premium, age of the senior citizen being insured is taken into consideration.
- Lifestyle: Truth is, our health is directly dependent on the lifestyles we lead. Therefore, one’s lifestyle habits are also taken into consideration whilst calculating a health insurance premium. It is important to declare everything about you or your elderly parents honestly. Such as habits like drinking, smoking, etc. In case you don’t and when a claim is made, the investigation will automatically show the cause of the illness or condition and if it is due to a habit which was not declared, it may result in a claim denial.
- Pre-existing Diseases or Conditions: If any condition, ailment or injury for which there were signs or symptoms of or which has already been diagnosed within 48 months prior to the first policy issued by the insurer or renewed continuously thereafter, needs to be declared to your health insurance company at the time of buying or renewing a senior health insurance policy.
- Location: Every city and town are different from another. From traffic and pollution levels to overall lifestyle changes that can risk one’s health in different ways. Therefore, the location you or your elderly parents live is will affect your senior health insurance premium accordingly.
What to look for in a Senior Citizen Health Insurance?
Consider the following factors before deciding on a senior health insurance plan:
a. Claim Process & Settlement: When you actually have to make a claim, you want to make sure both the claim settlement process and ratio is easy and efficient.
b. Customer Testimonials & Social Media Reviews: No matter, this is the ideal way to get honest feedback from people who’ve used the product themselves. The best way to do this is, look for testimonials, comments and reviews on the respective insurance provider’s social media channels.
c. Network of Hospitals: One of the best ways to make a claim is through a cashless claim settlement. However, you can only avail this benefit if you use one of the insurance provider’s network of hospitals. Therefore, look at the number and kind of hospitals available with your desired insurance provider and decide accordingly.
d. Add-on Benefits: Every health insurance will have add-on benefits you can customize in your plan. While looking for a senior health insurance plan, look at the add-ons available and decide on one that offers what you require.
e. Sum Insured: Sum Insured is what you’ll ultimately get during a health insurance claim. So, make sure it’s good enough for you, given your health conditions financial feasibility.
How to choose the right sum insured?
Consider the two following aspects before deciding on a sum insured:
a. Health Conditions: If you or your elderly parents already have existing health conditions or are less immune to illnesses, then choose a higher sum insured. Additionally, if there are hereditary diseases prevalent or the city, you’re residing in is over polluted, then pick a higher sum insured.
b. Lifestyle: Our health and lifestyles are interrelated. Therefore, based on the kind of lifestyle you or your elderly parents are leading, choose a higher or lower sum insured.
Know more about How to choose the Right Sum Insured for your Health Insurance.
What is the Psychiatric Benefit?
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health and that’s why, the Psychiatric benefit included in our senior health insurance policy covers senior citizens for any psychiatric support they may need.
Tips to maintain good health and well-being during old-age
1. Stay active - One of the things many people stop doing as they age is, exercising! And honestly, that may just be the reason for many health conditions. Whether you’re reading this for yourself or for your parent- exercise is important. Even if it's something as simple as walking or even yoga. Exercising at least 15-20 minutes every day can make a big difference to one’s physical and mental well-being.
2. Eat healthy - Our diets contribute to 70% of our health. Ensure you and your parents are eating a balanced diet. Especially one with a lot of calcium and fiber. Avoid oily food, fried items and too many dairy products.
3. Focus on prevention - We all know, prevention is always better than cure 😊 So, go for that annual health checkup and always be aware of your health. Just being aware can help you prevent so many health risks and conditions.
4. Take care of your mental health - More than 50% of people more than 60 years of age go through some form of mental illness or the other. Take simple steps to maintaining positive mental well-being. This can be done through regular exercise, meditation, gardening, partaking a hobby, etc. Moreover, if your senior parent is showing symptoms of depression, anxiety or any other mental illness, visit a psychologist for the right treatment or counseling.
5. Go for that dental treatment - It’s common for senior citizens to have frequent issues with their oral health. Take that dental appointment and get dental checkups done regularly.
6. Stay connected with people - It’s no surprise that many senior citizens go through loneliness. At the end of the day, man is a social animal. In fact, more than anything else it’s important that they’re connected to people and are in company of their family members and friends. Something as simple as keeping healthy relationships can go a long way to benefit one’s overall health and well-being.
7. Rest well - Quality sleep can instantly boost one’s mood. Make sure you or your parents are getting at least eight hours of good sleep every day.
8. Quit Smoking - If you or your parents smoke, now may be the right time to stop. Smoking has never proved to be beneficial for anyone at any point of their lives. However, as we age, the effects only get more harmful for our bodies.
9. Read - There’s a myth that states as we grow older, our memories weaken. However, that’s only a myth and it all depends on how much you exercise your brain. Reading is one proven way to avoid illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer as it not only helps improve memory, but also helps in cognition, reducing stress, enhancing concentration and also boosting positive mental health and well-being.
10. Stay hydrated - Water! The most important drink of our lives. It's the ideal way to flush out toxins, maintain good health and, we’re not kidding but also keeps you happier! Ensure you and your parents are drinking at least eight glasses of water every day. The more, the merrier!