We often see desperate adult children who find out with a surprise that their elderly parents don’t have proper health insurance. They understand that insuring their parents at this stage will mean a much higher premium for the health coverage. However, we should be aware that although age is a significant factor, it is still a lesser one compared to the biggest factor of all: Health condition. There are things that we need to be aware of. As we get older, it is likely that we will get specific kinds of illness. Risk of health problems is definitely higher on older individuals.
As an example, although a few infants may suffer early symptoms of diabetes, the risk is much higher if we are above 40 year old. That’s the reason why health insurance coverage for 20 year olds is lower than 45 year olds. People who have existing health problems could also need to pay much higher premiums. However, the prognosis and the type of illness will have a more significant effect. So, just because our parents are relatively older, they won’t be heavily penalized and required to pay excessively high premiums if they are relatively healthy.
In this case, we should make sure that we have all the required documents about our parents’ health condition. This should allow us to get an idea on the likely rates. However, if our parents have more serious health problems, then it is possible that the amount of premium can be much higher. As an example, we could be working with three different representatives from three insurers. It is important to give them enough details, so we could get good information from them. We could progressively collect enough information from our father and mother. It should be noted that each company could give us different rates.
After we have gathered their final rates, then we should review two of the cheapest and choose one that offers better coverage and service. There are also process and procedure that we need to consider, as an underwriting process may take more than a few weeks. Some companies could simplify the process greatly, while others follow the more standard, longer process. This factor should also help us narrow down our choices. For this step to work, it is highly advisable that we work with at least five companies.
In some cases, it is also a good idea to provide life insurance policy for our elderly parents. It should be noted that life insurance rates can be very high for two older individuals. However, by providing dual-coverage, we could make sure that our surviving parent could still live well. Checking health insurance for our parents can be quite important, especially because they can be quite secretive about their health condition. It is important for us to make educated decisions about insurance plans and coverage. In the end, it is important for us to obtain the final expense plan to allow us set up a budget for health insurance.