New India Assurance Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy

A Mediclaim differs from a health insurance in some ways. While the former covers expenses pertaining to hospitalisation, the latter is more comprehensive and covers medical expenses which might include services beyond hospitalisation.

In layman terms, for filing a Mediclaim, an actual hospitalisation has to take place and for filing a health insurance claim, a medical eventuality is required which necessarily does not mean that an actual hospitalisation has to happen. A normal Mediclaim policy will cover expenses arising out of hospitalisation.

The minimum age at which a Mediclaim can be applied for is 5 years and the upper age limit is 60 years. Mediclaim draws a staunch line and does not cover dental expenses, cosmetic surgeries, pregnancy, childbirth or sexually transmitted diseases.

Mediclaim for Senior Citizen:

With the ever-rising healthcare costs, senior citizen mediclaim policy for the elderly is a wise idea. Generally, the entry age for senior citizen health insurance is 61 years and many insurance providers limit the entry age to 69 years. Thus, sooner you get a Mediclaim policy, better the benefits would be. The chances of the policy getting rejected would also be less. After a two-year waiting period, cover for pre-existing diseases will also be offered.

The cover for alternative medical treatment methods like Ayurveda and Homeopathy can be added to the policy plan as add-ons. The premium of senior citizen Mediclaim is generally high since the entry age is high and the premium amount varies according to the pre-existing disease. Some companies offer life-long cover for senior citizens while others may not require medical tests until the age of 69, based on some terms and conditions.

A few policies for senior are: Optima Senior - Apollo Munich, Heartbeat - Niva Bupa (Formerly known as Max Bupa), Silver health plan - Bajaj Allianz, Senior Citizen Red Carpet plan - Star health and Senior citizen Mediclaim policy - New India Assurance.

New India Assurance Health Plans:

This company is a public sector general insurance provider. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian government and offers various customisable policies ranging from health to fire and machinery. For health cover, New India Assurance mediclaim policy offers individual plans that can be modified according to the needs of the policyholder.

A few of their plans are:

• New India Top Mediclaim Policy
• Overseas Mediclaim policy
• New India Asha Kiran Policy
• Mediclaim 2012 Policy
• New India Floater Mediclaim policy
• Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yajona Policy
• Janata Mediclaim Policy
• Personal Accidental policy
• Senior citizen Mediclaim policy 

New India Assurance Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy:

To understand the importance of a senior citizen health plan, let us take an example.

You and your spouse are busy with work and your father, who is a senior citizen, is all alone in the house with just a caretaker to help him out during the day. He has a stroke all of a sudden that leaves him partially paralysed. He has to be hospitalised for a couple of months to get him back on his feet. Naturally, this will put a tight leash on your expenses as hospitals aren’t exactly inexpensive.

These are the times where a plan like senior citizens Mediclaim comes to the rescue. With a senior citizen mediclaim, you’d neither have to compromise on the quality of the treatment nor have to worry about your finances.

Senior Citizen Mediclaim policy of New India Assurance is designed for citizens in the age group of 60 to 80 years. This plan offers a maximum coverage up to Rs. 1.5 lakhs. If there is no break in the policy, this plan can cover both the insured and his/her spouse up to 90 years of age. A pre-acceptance medical check-up shall be conducted by a company-authorised representative at the customer’s expense. This check-up is done to determine any pre-existing illnesses or diseases. However, if the proposer already has a plan with New India Health Assurance, this medical check-up can be overridden.

New India Assurance Senior Citizen Mediclaim Policy - Benefits:

• This policy covers pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation expenses for accidents and critical illnesses.
• While most of the policy providers offer reimbursements, this policy offers cashless treatment wherein the hospitals directly deals with New India Assurance for the incurred expenses. For hospitals that are not network-listed, cash reimbursement is provided.
• It covers pre-hospitalisation charges for expenses within 30 days before hospitalisation, Post-hospitalisation charges for up to 60 days after the discharge and the entire expense for in-patient hospitalisation.
• 25% of the assured sum can be claimed for the fees of the surgeon, anaesthetist, medical practitioner and consultant.
• Pre-existing conditions like blood pressure, hypertension and diabetes are covered by this policy after a specific waiting period and after paying an extra premium.
• Emergency ambulance expenses of up to 1000 is covered
• It covers the expenses of the treatment of chronic pre-existing diseases and charges an additional 10% premium for every pre-existing disease.
• As a renewal benefit, this policy offers complete reimbursement of health check-up expenses if no claim has been filed for 4 continuous years.
• This plan offers at 10% discount on your spouse’s premium.
• For every year without a claim, the sum assured will be upped by 5% and can go up to a maximum of 30% of the sum assured.
• Age-related diseases like Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, joint replacement and knee replacement are covered by this policy after a waiting period of 48 months.
• There is a waiting period of 30 days at the beginning when the policy has to be processed and approved. Any expenses during that period will not be covered by the
• Expenses due to braces or contact lenses are excluded in the policy.
• Injuries due to war, war-like operations, nuclear weapons, or radioactive contaminations are not covered. Vaccination, circumcision and inoculation are also not covered by this insurance plan.

In order to be claim-valid, all surgeries and medical treatments should take place in India. Otherwise, the company can reject any claim.

Here is the List of Claims and Their Maximum Limits that New India Assurance Mediclaim Policy will Cover:

• Hernia – 16000/- to 20000/-
• Arthroscopy – 10000/-
• Tonsillectomy – 7000/-
• Prostate – 18000/-
• Kidney Stone – 13000/-
• Mastectomy – 36000/-
• Laparotomy – 18000/-
• Tympanoplasty – 13000/-
• Septoplasty – 9000/-
• Appendectomy – 16000/-
• Hysterectomy – 22000/-

New India Assurance Mediclaim policy can be called a tailor-made policy as you can customise it according to your parents’ need. With useful features like complimentary health check-ups, no claim bonus (NCB), and an option to add common conditions like diabetes and hyper tension to the base policy, this policy stands unique in the market. As New India Assurance comes with the backing of Indian government, the general public can also be a little more assured about the authenticity of this policy provider.