Your family relationships are the most valuable facet of your life. It is equally essential to ensure the well-being of your family members and provide them with financial security against the exorbitant costs of medical emergencies. Investing in a family floater health insurance plan can give you the required peace of mind as all the members, particularly your ageing parents, will receive coverage in a medical emergency under a single policy.
Family Floater Health Insurance: What Is It?
When you have family floater health insurance, also known as a family health insurance plan, you can include all of your family members in a single healthcare plan that covers the entire family. These policies protect you, your partner, your children, and your parents for the cost of a single premium. When customising a family floater policy, it is possible to consider the requirements of each person in your family. It covers many aspects, including expenses incurred before and after hospitalisation, critical illnesses, and diagnostic tests.
How does Family Floater Health Insurance Work?
A family health insurance plan typically grants access to a predetermined amount of coverage for each member of the insured household. For instance, if you purchase a plan that comes with a yearly cover of Rs 15 lakh and includes your husband and parents in the policy, you will be able to submit a claim for this amount to cover not only your medical expenses but also those of your spouse, parents, and any other dependents. Moreover, when you invest in such a policy, you will receive tax benefits too.
Suppose your father needs to undergo knee surgery for a cost of Rs 5 lakh. After the necessary documentation gets processed, you and the other family members will each have a cover of 10 lakhs for the remaining time of the policy year. You and your family members can use this coverage for a variety of purposes.
Now consider an alternative scenario where your father requires a more expensive operation and exhausts the full Rs 15 lakh insurance benefit. If this situation plays out, the surviving family members won’t be able to submit any additional claims during the year.
How to Cover Aged Parents?
The premium for family floater insurance is calculated based on the age of the oldest person in the family. It is possible that family floater insurance is not the ideal choice for elderly people, even though it does have some benefits. This is because older people typically have a greater number of medical requirements and may need specialised treatment and care, neither of which a floater health insurance plan may not cover.
You can invest in senior citizen health insurance to cover the medical issues of your parents. The treatment and maintenance costs of several conditions associated with getting older are generally very high. Experts recommend having a customised health insurance plan for senior citizens. Alternatively, you can purchase an add-on to your already existing family floater policy to cover your aged parents.
Health Insurance Policies for Senior Citizens
The waiting period for pre-existing conditions under standard healthcare policies is usually 2-4 years; however, most health insurance policies for senior citizens have a waiting period of only one to two years. This is the primary advantage of most senior citizen health insurance policies.
A family floater insurance policy generally provides coverage for the entire family, including parents, spouses or children. It comes with a predetermined maximum limit on coverage, and the sum insured. If you file a claim due to the illness of any member of your family, the amount of coverage that will be available for the senior citizens of your family will be severely constrained. Elderly patients may require special attention in the event of a medical emergency. If the coverage provided by the family floater plan is insufficient, you may be required to pay for the therapy out of your wallet. If you want to avoid being in this position, it is in your best interest to purchase separate health insurance for your elderly parents or pay an additional premium for an add-on cover.
