Your Queries: Health Insurance | Dependent kids are covered under family floater till age of 25

By Prasun Sikdar

My wife is aged 50 and I am 56. My son is 22 and my daughter is 19. Till what age can they be included in health floater policy?
—Atul Mohan
It depends on the product / company where you and your family members are intending to be covered. Generally, in many products, the dependent children are covered till the age of 25 years. You may want to check with the prospective insurers and decide accordingly.

I have a family floater policy and my daughter aged 23 is also included in the policy. She is getting married next month. Can she continue with the policy and avail all the benefits accumulated over the last 12 years?
—Prashant Kumar
The child is mandatorily shifted into an individual policy when the child attains the age of majority as defined in the policy or if the child is no more dependent (becomes independent). Since the daughter is getting married, her dependence would shift from the existing family to the new family if the daughter is not earning. Continuity benefits are offered on
such policies.

My office health insurance covers myself, my wife and two kids. If I pay extra premium, my parents can be included. Should I go for this or take individual health insurance for them?
—Vipul Arora
Employee group insurance does not have any pre-existing waiting period. So any hospitalization incidence would be covered from day one. In retail policy, a pre-existing waiting period is applicable. Retail health insurance can be renewed lifelong but group coverage ends when the employee exits the group and so the parents could be left without any insurance. Hence, take an independent retail policy for parents as well.

Last year, I paid more than Rs 45,000 for cataract eye surgery. The insurance company did not pay the full amount as reimbursement. It said the amount is fixed at Rs 30,000. What should I do?
—A k Rao
If there is any capping on certain procedures such as cataract, etc. , the amount shall be paid as per the applicable sub-limits. However, super top -up which has no such sub limits and capping could be a good choice to cater to such out-of-pocket expenses.

The writer is MD & CEO, ManipalCigna Health Insurance. Send your queries to fepersonalfinance@expressindia.com