Is There an Upper Age Limit on Health Insurance Policies in India?

If we have learned anything from the last couple of years it is that life is even more unpredictable than we had thought it would be. You can have health issues at any time and you need to be adequately protected against them.

What is the maximum age at which you can buy health insurance? 

In most cases, the companies that sell these policies in India have a limit of 65 years beyond which you cannot buy such a policy. If you are over that particular age limit you would have to buy a comprehensive plan for senior citizens. However, you can be sure with these plans that you would get coverage for a wide array of medical expenses.

In most of the health insurance plans in India, you normally have variations with regards to the minimum age at which you can enter the policy. However, usually, there are no upper limits in these cases as such. In fact, you would also come across insurers that are offering plans to people who are older than 80 years! However, you need to confirm this with your insurer before you actually sign on the dotted line. This is because there are several insurers out there that do not cover people over a certain age limit.

Is it possible to buy health insurance for senior citizens?

Yes, you can most definitely do so. Most of us get ready for old age by making various investments and this includes the best health insurance as well. This makes sure that we are financially in a good position to face any medical emergencies should they arrive.

There are plenty of health insurers in India that offer policies meant specifically for older people so that they have the coverage that they need in these cases. This is where the health insurance age limit becomes critical. These days, there are plenty of plans that you can choose from for your parents keeping in mind the needs they have as well as the budget that you can spare. In most cases, these plans are meant for people in the age group of 60 to 65 years.

These plans do offer several benefits to the insured. However, before you buy them it is important to be clear about the health insurance age limit in India. Still, it is better that you buy these policies as early as you can in life. The main reason for such a statement is the fact that the premium rates of these policies increase with the age of the policyholder. This is because with increasing age our chances of falling ill or developing various ailments increases. This also makes us a riskier proposition as far as the insurers are concerned.

Reasons to avoid buying health insurance later on in life 

There are several reasons why you must avoid buying these policies later on in life. For starters, the benefits that you get from these policies decrease with advancing age.

In fact, a lot of insurers also include clauses like a mandatory pre-policy checkup and zero coverage for pre-existing illnesses when you buy a health insurance policy at a later stage in your life. This is the reason why buying these policies as early as you can makes so much sense. Let us look at some of the issues that arise when you do not buy these policies early on:

• The premiums become more expensive
• The sum insured gets lower
• The benefits are fewer
• The waiting period comes into play
• You may not get coverage for pre-existing illnesses

As we have said already, if you buy these policies later in life you have to pay a high premium. In the context of the health insurance policies people older than 50 years are considered to be high-risk individuals and this is why insurers ask for higher premiums to cover them. In most cases, health insurers in India place limits on the total money that you can claim in various cases in a policy in a definite period. This is normally done for people who have been detected with pre-existing conditions following the obligatory health check-up. Even as you get older the insurers offer fewer benefits on the health insurance plans.

The insurers do not like to offer optional covers and higher coverage easily because when you are old your chances of developing a health ailment are higher.  If you buy a health plan you may have to deal with a waiting period of around two to four years, which makes it useless for people who need coverage for urgent treatment for a serious ailment. When you are young this period is shorter and it gets over quicker following which you can make a claim easily.   In most cases, health insurers do not cover pre-existing illnesses unless you have not bought any add-on coverage for the same or if it is not a special plan as such.

It is not enough to know what the age limit for health insurance is. You need to know these things as well.