Get your health insurance cover early

CHENNAI: The thought of getting a health insurance comes to our mind only when someone in the family gets a heart attack or meets with an accident. Or we wait to turn 60 ourselves. There are, of course, the exceptions — the ones covered by group health insurance policies of their corporate employers.For senior citizens, health insurance still remains a grey area, with huge gaps remaining unbridged between the expectations of the elderly and the insurance products offered by the companies.All perhaps look easy till a claim is put forth. To avoid any problems during claims and also to provide a wide angle perspective on various health insurance products, along with a checklist of pros and cons, HelpAge India and Senior Citizens Bureau organised a state-level seminar on Health Insurance for senior citizens on Tuesday.V Ramasamy of Insurance Ombudsman, Chennai, explained in detail the senior citizen-friendly guidelines of Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) and how it can be approached for settling the grievances of the claimants.Anitarajam, Senior Manager, United India Insurance, after providing an overview of the growing health insurance industry, went on to say, “At the time of taking a policy, please declare all your pre-existing diseases or conditions. It is prudent not to hide things because declaring one’s conditions helps them when it comes to getting the claims.”Srinivasan, AVP-Undertaking, Star Health Insurance, listed out the things to look for while taking a policy for the benefit of the elderly. He said, “Look for the entry and and the exit age, list of exclusions as clearly mentioned in the brochure, co-pay percentage, sub-limits set for each condition, the number of networked hospitals both at the state and national level and pre and post hospitalisation cover. Please take efforts to understand the claim procedures.”PR Anbazhakan, Territory Head, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, HelpAge India, said, “A lot of confusion happens because the senior citizens do not understand the  products and the agents in most cases fail to help them.”