Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Should you include your parents in your health Policy?





Should you add your Parents in your Health Policy?

Often I am asked by young professionals if they can include their parents in their health policies. They often are specifically looking for Floater policies that allow parents to be included in the policy. My short answer to them is don’t do it. Let me explain why.

Your health needs are very different from your parents.

Parents who are approaching retirement age have a much higher propensity to need medical intervention compared to a thirty or forty year old. They are better off having a dedicated amount for their own treatment rather than share it with the rest of the family members. Conversely your other family members run the risk of not having enough money left for their treatment. The ideal policy for a family with the eldest member in the forties is a family floater while for people above the age of 50, the best option is an individual policy.

Not financially prudent

In floater policies, the premium depends upon the age of the oldest member. All members attract a rate that is based on the age of the oldest member. When a member is above fifty year of age then this inflates the premium of everyone in the policy.  You are also likely to need a much higher sum insured if you include your parents in your policy. The best option is to buy a separate individual policy for them. The amount of premium that you would pay by separating your needs into two policies would in most cases be less than one single policy.

In conclusion I would say that the most important thing is to ensure proper medical cover for your near and dear ones. A single policy may often not fit the needs of both. The best course of action is to look for a floater policy for you, your spouse and children. For your parents look for individual policy where each parent has their own sum insured.


This article is written by https://www.policylitmus.com. PolicyLitmus provides a comparison of over 1000 insurance plans from 51 insurers and helps you protect your life, health and property.

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