By Pallavi Seth

There are many senior citizens who were earlier covered under the employee benefit schemes provided by their employers but suddenly become uninsured on retirement. Moreover, many people delay buying health insurance plans giving priority to other financial requirements. If you are also one of them and near the age of superannuation, you can still get health insurance plans but you should consider a few things before buying these plans:

Giving the correct information
While filling the proposal form, remember to provide correct information on pre-existing diseases, lifestyle factors like consumption of alcohol, smoking, etc. Otherwise, the insurance company may reject the claim on account of breach of utmost good faith.

Waiting period
By the time you reach the age of 60, you may already be suffering from some diseases. These diseases can be covered in the health insurance plans after the waiting period is over. This period varies from company to company from one year to four years depending upon the pre-existing disease. You should look for a company and insurance plan with minimum waiting period.

Ayush treatment
Ayush refers to Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy. In case you prefer Ayush over allopathic medicine, insurance companies are providing coverage for that as well. But some companies put a sub-limit for Ayush treatment. You should choose the insurance company with maximum coverage for Ayush.

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Choosing the right rider
Riders are the add-on benefits which can be bought by paying extra premium to the current health insurance plan. Riders work like the toppings on the basic plan. But riders should be chosen wisely and as per your need. In the critical illness rider, if the insured is diagnosed with any listed critical illness, after the 15-day survival period, the insurance company pays the amount. Usually, health insurance policies have sub-limits on room rent. You must pay if you opt for a room rent waiver. Then there’s waiting period rider in which you can reduce the waiting period for pre-existing diseases.

Top-up and super top-up
Top-up and super top-up plans are like booster doses to your basic health insurance and come into force when the sum insured (SI) of your basic health insurance plan is exhausted. With medical inflation skyrocketing, these plans can be a saviour at the time of medical emergencies. People who had earlier opted for lower sum insured should buy these plans.

Apart from this, you should look at the fine print of the policy and check the sub-limits, co-payments and deductibles, etc., and ask your agent/company representative about any discrepancies or doubts. In case you are not satisfied with the policy, you can return the policy within 15 days of receiving the policy documents. Last but not the least, compare your policy premium and benefits before making the final decision for the purchase.

The writer is assistant professor, Amity School of Insurance, Banking and Actuarial Science, Amity University