If television commercials have been drawing your attention to the elderly, it’s possibly because October 1 is the day for older persons. This year the UN has dedicated it to taking a stand against “ageism” — the negative stereotyping of older people.

Such prejudices are seen not just in the attitude of individuals or societies, but also in institutional and policy practices. If you have ever tried getting a health insurance policy for a person over 65 years, you know exactly what the UN is referring to. Insurance companies are not interested in supporting your medical bills if you’ve not been a longstanding customer with them. Even if they do, it comes with hefty premiums and hidden caveats. The blow comes when the individual has retired. But as age and related ailments catch up, you find health insurance agents pleading helplessness, as there are no policies to support the elderly. In developed countries there is a social security blanket to cover medicare expenses. India does not have a system by which you pay into a state kitty when you are employed, to be taken care of by the state later.

Insurance companies will come up with many reasons why they cannot support the elderly, just as they had reasons why they could not support pre-existing illnesses until the courts stepped in and asked them to honour the claims of people even if they already had an ailment. If the Government wants to meaningfully address discrimination against the elderly it should work with insurance companies to develop appropriate schemes: health services for a nominal payment, insurance cover and easy access to clinics and hospitals, financial support for long-term medication, etc. With a senior citizen population of 100 million and rising, the Government needs to introduce a social security cover for all its citizens, specially the silver generation.

Deputy Editor

Published on October 4, 2016