Due to ageing, senior citizens remain at greater medical risks than young people. So, they require adequate health insurance coverage to pay the medical bills, especially during a health emergency. The base health policies are usually costly and get more expensive with the increase in the insured’s age. So, what’s the solution if you have to get an adequate size of health cover that is also not heavier on your pocket? The answer is that you can get the super-top-up health policy along with your base health policy. It’s a very cost-effective way to suffice your health insurance needs. Let’s find out how super-top-up health policy works.

How Does The Policy Work?

In a super-top-up health policy, the insured can claim the insurance amount if the cumulative eligible medical spend during the policy year exceeds the threshold deductible amount. For example*, suppose you have taken a super-top-up health policy of Rs 20 lakh with Rs 5 lakh as deductible. During the policy year, you spent Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh in two different cases of hospitalization. Again, you needed hospitalization for certain treatments, and the hospital bill was Rs 7 lakh. As your cumulative medical expenses already exhausted the deductible of Rs 5 lakh (Rs 2 lakh plus Rs 3 lakh), you’ll get a Rs 7 lakh claim from the this health policy.

The policy allows cover similar to the base health policy, and the main difference is that they enable protection only above the selected deductible amount.

Benefits Of A Super-Top-Up Health Policy For Retirees

This policy is much cheaper than the similar size of a base health policy. For example*, if you take a regular health policy for Rs 20 lakh coverage without any deductible for a 60-year-old person, it may cost around Rs 35,000. A super-top-up policy with Rs 15 lakh cover and Rs 5 lakh deductible will cost around Rs 8,000, and a base policy of Rs 5 lakh will cost Rs 20,000, so the total cost for Rs 20 lakh cover would be around Rs 28,000. So, you can save a significant amount of money by getting a combination of a base policy covering risk up to the deductible amount and a super-top-up policy covering the risk above the deductible amount.

Things To Keep In Mind

This policy can provide you with greater health risk coverage at a lower cost, but you should choose it carefully before applying. Read the fine print of the policy documents and beware of all the inclusions and exclusions mentioned. Try to get the health insurance policy well before retirement to exhaust the waiting periods for specified treatments during your working life.

(*Note: Examples given in the article only for illustration purposes; the premium presented in the example may vary in actual situations depending on the features of the policy and applicable terms and conditions.)

The author is an independent financial journalist