Senior Citizen Health Insurance - Various Plans

As you begin to age, your body undergoes several changes. You also become more prone to illnesses, infections, and chronic ailments once you cross your 50s and come closer to your 60s. The costs of treating these medical conditions can prove to be rather expensive. A senior citizen health insurance policy helps you manage the treatment costs without you having to dip into your savings.

With ManipalCigna Health Insurance, you can find the ideal health care insurance for senior citizens, specially curated for seniors, taking their general medical concerns into consideration. Our senior citizen plans cover the costs of treating a range of age-related medical conditions, hospitalization costs, pre and post-hospitalization expenses, preventive health check-up charges, and more.

ManipalCigna’s Health Insurance Policies For Senior Citizens encompass an array of benefits:

• Significant Coverage

You can enjoy coverage even before you are hospitalized and long after you are discharged from the hospital. The policy covers the cost of treatments, diagnostic tests, doctor consultations and more.

• High Sums Insured

Costs of treating illnesses increase as you age, so it is always best to have a policy with high sums insured. ManipalCigna offers health insurance for senior citizens with coverage of up to ₹50 lakhs.

• Sum Insured Restoration Benefits

In case of a prolonged illness, even a high coverage amount may sometimes fall short. But with our unlimited sum insured restoration feature, you never have to worry about the mounting medical costs.

• PED Waiting Period Reduction Rider

Senior Citizen Health Insurance plans covering PEDs include a 24 months waiting period clause. You can also lower the PED waiting period to just 90 days by opting for the waiting period reduction rider.

• Cumulative Bonus Benefits

You are eligible for an enhanced sum insured at no extra cost, with a guaranteed cumulative bonus of 10% of sum insured, up to a maximum of 100% of the sum insured.

• Cashless Treatment Facilities

You can seek treatment without making upfront payments, on a cashless basis at any of the 8500+ medical facilities in the ManipalCigna Network as well at 18,000+ OPD Cashless facilities nationwide.

• Preventive Health Check-ups

You can undergo free preventive health check-ups after every claim-free year, or once during a given policy year, depending on your chosen senior citizen medical insurance plan.

• Any Room Upgrade Feature

If you value comfort during hospitalization and prefer to stay in private rooms or suites, you will enjoy the any room upgrade feature offered under ManipalCigna’s Health Insurance for Senior Citizens Plan.

• Effortless Claim Process

You can choose between cashless claims at network hospitals and reimbursement claims at your preferred medical facilities. You can file the claims online and get timely alerts about your claim status.

• Anytime Access

ManipalCigna mails you your policy on your email id, allowing you to access it anytime. You can also create your ManipalCigna account on our website for easy access to your policy and coverage terms.

Buying health insurance for senior citizens – as a senior yourself or if they are your dependents, makes you eligible for tax deduction benefits under Section 80D of the Income Tax Act of India (per the old tax regime).

• If you are buying the policy yourself as a senior citizen or if you are buying it for your senior citizen parents, you can claim annual tax deductions of up to ₹50,000 on your health insurance premiums.
• Senior citizens buying health insurance for their dependents, be it their children or spouse (under 60 years of age), can claim tax deduction benefits of up to ₹75,000 per annum.
• In case you are in your 60s yourself, and you wish to buy health insurance for your super senior citizen parents, the tax deduction limit increases, up to ₹100,000 per annum.
• You can also use the overall tax deduction limit or threshold of ₹50,000 to ₹100,000 (as applicable to your case) under Section 80D to conduct annual preventive health check-ups of up to ₹5,000 per annum and claim it as a tax deduction benefit.

At ManipalCigna, we have made the policy buying process incredibly easy for you. Now, you can purchase your health insurance plan in an effortless and paperless manner, from the comfort of your home, office, or while you are on the go. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Visit the ManipalCigna Health Insurance website.
2. Click on the Health Insurance tab and select ‘Prime Senior’ from the drop down menu.
3. Download the product brochure or browse through the page to assess the scope of coverage.
4. Click on the ‘get quote’ tab or the ‘speak to expert’ tab to reveal a new page.
5. Enter details such as your name, email address, contact number, number of members to secure, their date of birth and gender, and your PIN code.

You will get a quote about the premiums and coverage and a link to fill out a form

Myth: Individuals who have always been healthy do not need health insurance

Fact: Whether or not you have always been healthy, you need health insurance because there is no predicting when a sudden medical condition might crop up. Your chances of contracting illnesses increase even further as you begin to age.  

Myth: Coverage under a Family Health Insurance Plan is sufficient to treat any medical condition.

Fact: While this statement may seem right when you are younger, it does not hold true as you grow old. The sums insured under family floater plans tend to be lower. If you are hospitalized as a senior citizen, you may use up the entire sum insured amount yourself. If another family member is hospitalized in the same policy year, you may have to pay for their treatment costs out of your pockets.

Myth: Senior Citizens suffering from pre-existing medical conditions cannot buy health insurance

Fact: Many insurers offer senior citizen health insurance policies that cover the cost of treating certain, specific pre-existing medical conditions. The only caveat is that you can claim coverage to seek treatment related to the pre-existing condition after riding out a waiting period of 24 months. Plus, you can still utilise the health policy to seek treatment for other, newly diagnosed medical conditions.

Myth: It is better to purchase health cover for senior citizens offline than online

Fact: It is far easier and much more convenient to buy your health insurance policies online than it is to do so offline. When you buy Mediclaim for senior citizens online, you can compare different policies and insurers, get quotes, assess the coverage terms yourself, and make informed buying decisions. This facility is simply not available when you buy it offline, especially when you buy policies through agents.   

Some key features of the ManipalCigna health plan for senior citizens can be summarized as follows:

• Minimum and Maximum Entry Age

You need to be in the age bracket of 56 years at minimum, and 75 years at the most, to be eligible to buy a ManipalCigna Senior Citizen health insurance plan.

• Individual and Group Coverage

ManipalCigna gives you the option to choose Senior Citizen health insurance policies on an individual basis, or as a family floater plan. You may even include multiple senior citizens under one policy.

• Pre-existing Disease (PED) Coverage

Our health plans for senior citizens also cover you against various pre-existing illnesses. You can check the pre-existing ailments included in the scope of our coverage in your policy document.

• Policy Duration

ManipalCigna allows you to choose policies of varying durations. You can choose single-year policies valid for up to 1 year, as well as multi-year policies valid for 2 to 3 years at a stretch without renewing.

• AYUSH Treatments

Your ManipalCigna Senior Citizen health insurance policy also permits you to seek alternative or non-allopathic Inpatient Hospitalization/Day-care treatments listed under government-approved AYUSH facilities.

• Waiting Period For Pre-existing diseases

ManipalCigna Senior Citizen health insurance plans covering pre-existing diseases comes with waiting periods of to 24 months. You cannot file an insurance claim for medical treatments during this time.

• Premium Payment

You can pay your senior citizen health insurance premiums through various online payment modes. You also opt for lump-sum premium payments or pay on a monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly basis.

• Medical Check-Up

You need to undergo a pre-medical check-up at a ManipalCigna approved medical facility before you buy the policy. The check-up allows us to assess you medical condition and provide a premium quote.

The ManipalCigna Prime Senior Plan is our specially curated plan for our senior citizen customers. This comprehensive senior citizen plan offers innovative features and is designed to cover a range of health ailments, medical conditions and age-related situations senior citizens are likely to face. You can choose from 2 versions of the ManipalCigna Prime Senior Plan:

1. The Prime Senior Classic Plan

This plan comes with sums insured ranging from ₹3 lakhs to ₹50 lakhs. It provides coverage for all kinds of modern and advanced treatments and includes cashless and flexible health check-up facilities along with cumulative bonus benefits and the option to upgrade to any room, including private suites and above.

2. The Prime Senior Elite Plan

The Prime Senior Elite plan offers a minimum coverage of ₹5 lakhs up to ₹50 lakhs. You can enjoy benefits like unlimited sum insured restoration, including for injuries and the same illnesses. Plus, you can get cashless health check-ups from the 1^st policy year, cumulative bonus benefits, and upgrade to higher category rooms during hospitalization.

As you grow old, your income sources begin to diminish while your medical expenses tend to increase. A steady, monthly income is typically replaced by pension and interest earnings from your various investments and assets accumulated over the years. An acute medical emergency can wipe away these savings accumulated so painstakingly. A diagnosis of a critical medical condition can make your financial situation even worse and eat away all the funds preserved to help sustain your golden years.

By investing in medical insurance for senior citizens, you can safeguard your accumulated funds from being spent on unprecedented medical emergencies Moreover, a good health plan for senior citizens with a high sum insured, helps you bear the ever-rising and inflation-adjusted medical costs. Such a policy allows you to enjoy coverage against critical health conditions and pre-existing ailments, while you can also utilize the preventive health check-up benefits offered under the policy. In essence, having a separate senior citizen medical insurance plan protects your savings from depletion, while empowering you to make the most of your retired life as you should, in a relaxed and carefree manner.

ManipalCigna Prime Senior is designed specifically for the senior citizens to help this segment live golden years of their life worry-free. It is a comprehensive product that is designed to address various challenges of senior citizens such as room category flexibility, hassle-free purchase of plan, flexibility in terms of premium management, premium paying options and so on.

The plan has 2 variants – classic plan to ensure inclusive cum affordable coverage and elite plan which is a superior plan that enhances the benefits available in Classic plan and also provides a host of added features

There are optional covers which makes the product highly customizable.

You can buy ManipalCigna Prime Senior Online by visiting our website www.manipalcigna.com.

Under this policy, coverages are divided into Basic, Value added, Optional and Add-on/Rider.

The optional covers and ManipalCigna Health 360 Add-on/rider can be opted by paying additional premium.

No, there is no exit age in this policy.

Yes. Premium paid under the Policy shall be eligible for income tax benefit under Sec 80 D of the Income Tax Act and any amendments thereon. If Policy Term is more than 1 year then tax benefit can be taken for all the years separately as applicable. 

We understand you and ensure you have complete peace of mind by allowing you to opt for “Any room” category without any extra deductions. Which means, when one opts for higher category room than eligible, you get charged for the additional difference pertaining to the difference in room rent only. No additional proportionate deductions on the doctor visits, nursing, etc.

With Prime Senior we restore 100% of Sum Insured after 1st claim in a policy year, if at any point in time you are short of the coverage. This is possible in case of both related and unrelated illnesses and accidents.

Whether or not you need to undergo a pre-medical check-up depends on your insurer. Most health insurance companies in India require individuals above the age of 45 years to undergo medical screenings before they can buy a health plan. The medical tests give insurers a clear picture of the potential policyholder’s health condition. Based on the test, the insurer determines the premium costs. That said, some insurance companies in India do offer health insurance for senior citizens without medical tests, just like ManipalCigna Prime Senior, but provide limited coverage under such policies, and charge higher premiums

In most cases, the waiting period associated with senior citizen medical insurance plans, typically ranges from 2 to 4 years, but may differ from one insurance provider to another. For instance, at ManipalCigna, we offer senior citizen medical insurance plans with waiting periods lasting for only up to 2 years. However, as the policyholder, we give you the option to reduce the waiting period to merely 90 days by purchasing an add-on rider to reduce the waiting period.

When buying a health plan for senior citizens, you must ensure that it includes all the basic covers such as hospitalization costs, pre-and post-hospitalization expenses, ambulance charges, OPD, day-care, and domiciliary hospitalization covers, preventive health check-ups, cumulative bonus benefits, etc. You can also customise your policy with add-on riders addressing your specific health care concerns. Most importantly, you must ensure that the policy you choose has a significantly high sum insured and a lifetime renewability feature so that you can enjoy insurance coverage well into your old age.  

Under the directives of the IRDAI, your insurance provider must bear up to 50% of the costs associated with pre-insurance medical check-ups suggested by them, while the potential policyholder must bear the remaining costs. In some cases, the insurer may bear the entire cost of the medical tests. You typically have to undergo these test at dedicated medical facilities approved by your insurance provider, who directly pays the medical facility for the costs incurred with the pre-insurance tests. You may also be asked to pay for the medical test upfront, and the insurer may reimburse you later.  

In most cases, the costs associated with treating critical illnesses are covered under regular senior citizen health plans in India. If they are not, you can always pay a little extra and buy critical illness coverage as an add-on rider with your existing senior citizen medical insurance plan.  

Yes, most insurance providers in India offer free annual health check-ups to senior citizens holding health insurance policies. This facility under Mediclaim for senior citizens helps insurers track their older policyholders’ health records. As the policyholder, you can benefit from this facility as it helps you know of any changes in your health condition, and whether you need to seek treatment for a newly diagnosed condition that you were unaware of previously.

Yes, you can. You typically need to purchase senior citizen health insurance plans in your late 50, but you can also do so after your turn 60. However, insurers must first deem you eligible for insurance coverage, which is why they may ask you to undergo a medical test. Moreover, insurers typically determine the premiums you need to pay after assessing your test results.

Yes, it is always a good idea to invest in a separate medical insurance plan for your senior citizen parents, even though they may be covered under your family floater plan. This way, if they are diagnosed of a serious illness, you do not have to worry about exhausting the sum insured under your family plan. Also, if you have the separate policy, neither you nor your parents will have to bear the financial burden of paying for the treatment costs out of your own pockets, especially if something happens to another family member insured under the family floater plan.

When offering Mediclaim for senior citizens, insurers consider several personal factors linked to the potential policyholder while determining the premium costs. These include, the senior citizen’s age and body mass index (BMI), their medical condition and lifestyle habits (smoking, drinking, etc.,) whether they have any pre-existing disease and how severe it is, as well as the type of senior citizen policy chosen along with the costs of additional riders (if applicable).