Answer Book question
Yes. Indian insurers can no longer refuse cover purely on the basis of age, and several offer senior-specific plans. What you will face instead is price, co-pay, waiting periods, and exclusions for what they already have. The question shifts from "can they" to "is what they can get worth the premium."
Yes. Indian insurers can no longer refuse cover purely on the basis of age, and several offer senior-specific plans. What you will face instead is price, co-pay, waiting periods, and exclusions for what they already have. The question shifts from "can they" to "is what they can get worth the premium."
A son in Qatar wants to insure his 70-year-old father in Kozhikode who has diabetes and had a stent placed four years ago. He is quoted ₹42,000 a year for ₹5 lakh with a 20 percent co-pay and a two-year wait on cardiac. The son asks Kerala Rising whether to buy. We ask: what is the father's likely first big claim? Cardiac. Which is excluded for two years. So the policy protects against everything except the most likely event, for two years.
Senior plans accept older entrants but price the risk and carve out pre-existing disease for a waiting period. Some require a pre-policy medical. Co-pay is near-universal. Disease-specific sub-limits are common. The cover is real, but the fine print is where it lives.
Entry age and renewal age on the plan Pre-policy medical requirement Waiting period for each declared condition Co-pay percentage Sub-limits on cataract, joint, cardiac, dialysis Premium trajectory. what it becomes at 75 and 80 Whether the parent is eligible for KASP/PM-JAY regardless
Buying at 70 is expensive and partial. Buying at 55 would have been cheap and complete. If you are reading this and your parents are 55, stop and buy today. If they are 70, the decision is about whether partial cover at a high price beats self-funding plus the public scheme.
KASP provides ₹5 lakh a year per eligible family at empanelled hospitals, including many private ones. For a senior couple with chronic conditions, a KASP card plus a dedicated medical reserve can be more practical than an expensive private policy that excludes their conditions.
Option A: private senior plan ₹42,000/yr, cardiac excluded for 2 years, 20% co-pay. Option B: confirm KASP whether you may qualify, place ₹3 lakh into a separate medical reserve, add ₹42,000 a year to it. In two years Option B has ₹3.84 lakh plus KASP; Option A has paid ₹84,000 for cover that would not have paid a cardiac claim. After year two, A starts to make more sense. if the family can sustain the rising premium.
If your parents are healthy at 70 with no declared conditions, a senior plan can be good value and the waiting periods matter less. And a family with no savings buffer at all may need the policy even with its gaps.
List each parent's conditions and medications honestly Get two senior-plan quotes and note the waiting periods on their specific conditions Check KASP whether you may qualify at the local Akshaya centre Decide: policy, reserve, or both
Is ₹5 lakh health insurance enough for my parents? Can an insurer reject me because I have diabetes? Should I insure parents separately? Can I buy health insurance for my parents while I am abroad?
Senior-citizen services · NRIs & returning Malayalis
IRDAI health insurance regulations and consumer guidance · Your policy wording and schedule · Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi (KASP) / PM-JAY guidelines for whether you may qualify Rates, limits and whether you may qualify change. Confirm with the official source. Ask Kerala Rising: Send us the policy schedule and the ages of everyone covered. We will tell you what the policy actually pays, what it does not, and whether a large bill would be survivable. WhatsApp +1 443 595 9000 · keralarising.com Kerala Rising › Money › Health insurance · Health 3
This page is general orientation, not personal insurance, investment, medical, legal, lending, tax, or professional advice. Rules, rates, benefits, and claim or application decisions can change. Confirm the current position with the named official source and use a licensed or qualified professional where your situation requires one. Kerala Rising does not decide whether you may qualify, approve claims, or promise an outcome.