Over six crore senior citizens in India will benefit from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to extend medical insurance coverage under Ayushman Bharat to all Indians above the age of 70 years if the BJP is voted to power.
The BJP went by widespread public feedback to include this point in the manifesto, a Union minister told News18. “Most medical insurance companies don’t offer medical insurance to those above 70 years of age, as they anticipate a high number of claims from this age group. The few insurers who do offer medical insurance to those above 70 years of age have extremely high annual premiums that many middle-class families can’t afford,” the minister explained to News18.
Another government source said there are also pre-ailment clauses that don’t cover existing ailments for two-three years. “In short, the policy is not effective for two to three years despite paying a heavy premium,” the source explained. He said incidentally, this age group above 70 is the one that needs medical insurance the most as they are prone to falling sick or already suffering from serious ailments like heart disease, kidney ailments and lung or brain diseases
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