A study looking into the demography of insurance buyers shows that seniors in the age group of 60 to 80 years made up only 15 per cent of the pie, while the younger lot in the age bracket of 18 to 40 years picked up 45 per cent of policies.
The study was done in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic which raised the importance of insurance policies to fight such exigencies.
“Having a health insurance at an elderly age is imperative because of the high medical costs and high morbidity rate. Senior citizens unfortunately are still highly under-insured in India which puts them at a grave financial risk in the future,” alerts Amit Chhabra, who heads the health insurance vertical at the online insurance platform Policybazaar.com, which conducted the study.
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Seniors within 50 to 60 years bought 20 per cent of health covers sold during April-December 2020, while the 40-50-year group had an equal share of the pie. The share of health policies bought by youths for their parents stood at a meagre 12.2 per cent during the period.
Health covers of up to Rs 5 lakh was sold the most, making 41 per cent of the total policies, while the second choice was covers of Rs 5-10 lakh, which made up 24 per cent, followed by Rs 10-20-lakh policies at 9 per cent and those of Rs 20 lakh to Rs 1 crore at 14 per cent. “This shows that the penetration level and awareness of health insurance for senior citizens is extremely low and is a cause for great concern,” says the study.
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Around 20 per cent of the claims made by senior citizens are for eye and adnexa treatment, while 15 per cent belong to circulatory and heart disease and 8 per cent are of malignant neoplasms. The average claim amount made for cardiovascular disease is around Rs 75,000 and for musculoskeletal disorder it is around Rs 1,06,000 which accounts to 8 per cent of the claims made by senior citizens.
As people age, the list of ailments increases and the chances of repeated hospitalisation are quite high. To cater to this problem, industry’s experts advised to buy a separate health insurance policy for your senior citizen parents. There are a few things like pre and post hospitalisation, day-care treatment and PED coverage that one should consider before buying a policy.
One should also look out for waiting period, co-payment clause, sub-limits and other possible exclusions. “Senior citizens must be adequately covered (at least Rs 10 lakh per person sum insured) and ideally should buy comprehensive plans with no limitations like co-pay or sub-limits. However, if a cheaper option is needed, then they could look at senior citizen specific plans with some limitations like co-pay,” Chhabra says.
For senior citizens, the premium of the policy is mostly on a higher end as the premiums increase with age and medical conditions. Always compare the policies before buying and while comparing do not go after lower premiums. Buy a policy that would provide maximum benefits and comprehensive coverage along with lifelong renewability, which will provide lifelong coverage to seniors.
