Fifty? Old but not that bad

ANIRUDH LASKAR

Mumbai, Dec. 10: If you are over 50, acquire ready to be labelled a senior citizen — but lone for a medical coverage policy.

A commission set up by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) have come up up with a sackful of suggestions to pass the range of wellness coverage for the elderly.

Many mightiness quail at the prospect of being called a senior citizen when they turn 50, but there are some great benefits in shop if the coverage regulator accepts the recommendations.

For a start, the wellness screen will be moderately priced: the commission headed by K.S. Sastry have suggested an yearly alkali insurance premium of Rs 3,000 for an assured sum of money of Rs 1 hundred thousand at age 50.

Pre-existing diseases detected 48 calendar months before the policy will be covered — but there’s A rider. The screen will be granted only four old age after the start of the policy.

For the first time, the commission have also narrowly defined the term which is “any condition, complaint or hurt or related to condition(s) for which the individual had marks or symptoms, or were diagnosed or received medical advice or treatment within 48 calendar months prior to origin of the first policy”.

The commission suggested that the aged should use for wellness coverage from as early an age as possible to do the coverage system financially viable.

However, since some of them might be tapping option beginnings of healthcare funding while in active service, it said senior citizens could be allowed to come in the wellness coverage system up to the age of 65 old age or higher at the discretion of the insurer.

If they make so, they should be given guaranteed renewal of coverage without any upper age limit.

The commission said a progressive annualised insurance premium of Rs 3,000 was sensible for a healthy senior citizen at 50, especially at a clip when most wellness merchandises in the state cost Rs 5,000 or more.

The commission said the insurance premium could be adjusted with a burden every year. However, the insured would also be entitled to a loyalty price reduction for every twelvemonth the insured was with the wellness coverage system, and not necessarily the peculiar product.

‘Scrap age brackets’

The present pattern of specifying insurance premium based on age brackets should be scrapped, the commission said.

A progressive addition from twelvemonth to twelvemonth — so long as it is a little per centum a twelvemonth and without combination — was likely to be more than acceptable.

Since the coverage company would not have got the option of refusing wellness insurance to any senior citizen, it was thought just to let the company to set the alkali insurance premium on the footing of a medical scrutiny at the clip of first entry.

The commission suggested a move away from the traditional reimbursement attack in order to convey down the insurance premium further.

As soon as a specified unwellness is diagnosed, the insured volition be paid a specified hunk sum of money amount. The commission said such as policies could convey down the insurance premium to Rs 1,500 or even lower.

Tax breaks

The Sastry commission recommended that income-tax grants be granted to people under wellness insurance.

The present taxation discount under Section 80 Vitamin D for wellness coverage insurance premiums is regressive — a taxpayer in the peak bracket acquires a taxation discount of about Rs 6,000 whereas a senior citizen in a less class acquires much less.

The commission suggested the taxation grant for wellness coverage at a uniform charge per unit of Rs 6,000, or if possible, at a higher degree for every taxpayer.

The taxation change was logical as the insured senior citizen would be paying higher and higher insurance premiums as he or she turns older.

At present, coverage insurance premiums pull service taxation of 12.36 per cent, including cess. It was recommended that if wellness coverage coverage insurance premiums could not be exempted from service taxation altogether, at least 50 per cent of the service taxation on all wellness premiums should be credited to an insurance pool that the IRDA could create.

The return would then be used to cover with high-risk health coverage cases.