Health Insurance for Parents

1. Individual Health Insurance: This type of plan covers one person, which means your parents will have their own health insurance policy. It's great if you want to ensure their specific healthcare needs are taken care of.
2. Family Floater Health Insurance: If you have both parents and maybe even you and your siblings to cover, a family floater plan can be a good choice. You can also include your spouse and children under a single health insurance. It covers the entire family under one policy, and the sum assured is shared among family members.
3. Senior Citizen Health Insurance: These plans are specially designed for elderly parents over the age of 60. They usually have higher coverage for age-related illnesses and with new IRDAI regulations, it is possible to buy senior citizen insurance for parents over 65 years.
4. Critical Illness Insurance: This plan provides a lump sum amount if your parent is diagnosed with a critical illness like cancer, heart disease, or stroke. It can help cover the costly treatments associated with these conditions.
5. Hospital Cash Insurance: This type of plan offers a daily allowance for each day your parent is hospitalised. It can help with additional expenses like transportation and food while they are in the hospital.
6. Pre-existing Condition Cover: If your parents already have a health issue, look for plans that cover pre-existing conditions. These plans might have a waiting period before they provide coverage for such conditions.
7. Top-up Health Insurance: These plans kick in when the basic health insurance coverage is exhausted. It can be a cost-effective way to enhance your parent's health coverage without buying a completely new policy.
8. Super Top-up Health Insurance: Similar to top-up plans, super top-up policies provide coverage once a certain threshold is reached. These are useful if you want to extend the coverage significantly.
9. Group Health Insurance: Some employers offer group health insurance that can cover your parents if you're working in a company. It's often a convenient and cost-effective option.
10. Government Health Schemes: India also has government health insurance schemes like Ayushman Bharat. These schemes are designed to provide financial protection for healthcare to families below the poverty line.

• Understand Your Parents’ Current Health: When you are buying health insurance for your parents, start by considering their current health. Are they managing diabetes or BP? Do they need regular consultations or tests? Understanding this will help you choose a plan that  fits their needs instead of buying a standard cover.
• Choose a Solid Financial Protection: Your parents might need wider coverage. With ACKO, you get benefits that support real-world medical needs, from day care procedures and modern treatments to consumables, and more. Features like preventive health check-ups, unlimited restoration of the sum insured, and cumulative bonuses come are a plus when medical needs grow with age.
• Choose Plans with Shorter Waiting Periods: If your parents have pre-existing conditions like hypertension, or diabetes, the waiting period may be applied. Choose a plan that offers transparent terms and shorter waiting periods compared to traditional plans.
• Pick a Sum Insured That Matches Senior Care Costs: Medical expenses for parents can rise quickly, when it comes to hospital stays or advanced treatments. A sum insured of around ₹20 lakh is a practical choice for parents.
• Prefer Plans With Zero Co-pay: Co-pay means paying a part of the bill from your pocket during claims, which can be stressful when treatment costs are high. The good thing about ACKO’s plans is that they come with no co-pay and no hidden charges, so you don’t get surprises when the bill arrives.
• Choose Individual Plans for Better Safety: Instead of adding your parents to your family floater policy, buy a separate health insurance plan for parents. This will decrease the risk of exhausting the sum insured because of frequent claims.
• Avoid Plans That Have Sub-limits: Sub-limits cap the amount you can claim for certain treatments. That means more expenses for you during medical treatment. Choose plans that keeps things simple with no sub-limits on room rent or major treatments. This will help your parents get the best possible care without restrictions.
• Look for a Digital Insurer: Choosing a digital insurance company will help you a lot during claims. There is almost no physical paperwork involved and you can track claims through the app. No agents, no running around, just quick help when you need it.
• Compare Plans, but Don’t Forget the Experience: Comparing plans beyond premiums and inclusions. Consider things like convenience, transparency, and claims. ACKO stands out because it removes the usual complexity around health insurance and gives you a clean, easy-to-understand experience from purchase to claim.

How to Raise a Reimbursement Claim Online for Your Parents

Here are the steps to claim Parent's health insurance online

• Account login: First, you need to get the app on your phone, or go to the insurer’s website to raise a claim. Then log in to your account and find the claims section.
• Submit documents: You need to upload documents like doctor’s prescriptions, discharge summary, admission papers, and any other documents that the insurance company has requested. Also, some insurers might ask a few basic questions related to the claim, enter the necessary details and submit.