Health insurance has become mandatory due to the high expenses involved in the medical treatment. It is not possible to completely rely on our savings for meeting our hospital expenses. It is here that medical insurance comes in handy. A health insurance covers your medical expenses involved in treating any disease or illness. The insurance company pays your medical expenses either at the time of treatment or it’s later reimbursed to the insured person.
Things to remember before opting for a health insurance plan
The medical plan must cover hospitalization expenses which include accommodation and medical supplies. The room rent would be paid on a daily basis and it would be advisable to opt for a plan with facility for reimbursement of higher room rent.
Pre Existing diseases will not be covered immediately after buying the plan. There will be a time period after which it will be covered. Make sure you check this time period before opting a health plan.
Check for the network of hospitals covered under this plan. Look whether your cities, nearby hospitals are included in this plan.
Make sure you opt for a plan that has maximum renewal time. Your most likely to face issues in your older age so make sure that this is also considered while planning your insurance.
Look for a plan which does not have a co-pay plan. Co-pay means when you make a claim with the insurance company you will be required to pay a small percentage along with the insurance company. For eg :if the claim is 10000 then insurance company will pay 900 and you will be required to pay 100.So it’s best to avoid this.
Here is a list of top health insurance company that is currently available in India.
In this article…
Bajaj Allianz
Bajaj Allianz is joint venture of Bajaj Finserv and Allianz which have made a remarkable progress in the field of insurance. They have ventured in this field from year 2001 and offers insurance coverage in Health Insurance, Home Insurance, Travel Insurance and Motor Insurance. This is a growing insurance company and have won the Claims Awards Asia 2013 for its innovative Tablet based claim model application. They have also bagged the BFSI Awards 2014 for their excellent contribution to the banking and finance sector.
Bajaj Allianz has formulated insurance plans both for individuals as well as family. The hassle-free claim settlement opens to be the highlight of Bajaj. They also offer 6000+ network hospital for availing medical care. One of their popular product is the Health Guard Family Floater that provides insurance for the entire family.
– This policy offers pre hospitalization as well as post hospitalization expenses. This will include hospital accommodation expenses, nursing care, fees of medical qualified staff and medical consumables.
– Ambulance charges up to a maximum of Rs 1000 for all family member secured under the claim.
– At the end of a period four years if you or your family has not made a claim then you are entitled to a free health checkup.
Max Bhupa Life insurance
Max has entered into Indian market after 2001 and is a joint venture between Max India Limited and Bhupa Group. Their health insurance policy tends to stand out as innovative and their presence has made an influence in the Indian insurance market too. They do not have any specific enrollment age which means any person of any age can avail their policy. Again premium is charged on a region wide basis and offer no claim bonuses. They also give guaranteed renewal which means that they won’t decline a renewal when you are in 70’s or 80’s
Heart Beat stands to be the one of the best policy offered Max Bhupa. Some of the highlights of the policy include..
– This health cover is available in three variants namely Gold, Silver and Platinum. It offers a coverage of 2 lakhs-50 lakhs.
– There is no age restriction in entry as well as renewal.
– This policy also provides maternity and child care benefits along with vaccination.
– Hospitalization expenses, nursing, ICU, Chemotherapy, Radiotherapy are all included in this policy.
– You can also avail income tax benefits under 80D of Income Tax Act.
Apollo Munich
Apollo Munich is a joint venture between Apollo Hospital and Munich health in year 2007.Their plans have a very positive feedback and they have managed to gain high ratings for their health insurance plans. Their health insurance plans covers individuals, family, groups and even corporates. They have also subdivided the plans to offer men as well women under all age groups.
Their Easy health insurance policy promises to be good and is available in three variants namely Standard, Exclusive and Premium. This plan can be opted by an individual or as an entire family. It looks into the medical expenses incurred at the time of illness, accident or injury.
– This health insurance e policy provides a coverage of 200000 to 1000000 depending on the policy.
– The minimum age of entry is 5 and the maximum is 60.While the policy can be renewed lifelong.
– It includes pre hospitalization as well as post hospitalization expenses.
– Diagnostic expenses, lodging, ICU, anesthesia, blood, surgery, medical consumables, devices implanted are all covered under this plan.
– Maternity expenses after a waiting period of 4 years.
– Dental and expenses on spectacles as well as contact lenses.
HDFC ERGO
HDFC ERGO is another leading insurance provider and has won numerous awards in this field. They have a comprehensive coverage in their health plans and offer cashless coverage to over 5000+ hospitals in India. Some of their popular health insurance include Health Suraksha, Health Suraksha Top Up, Critical Illness and Health Suraksha Gold.
Health Suraksha is a popular health insurance policy opted by many people. You can avail it as an individual Health Suraksha scheme or a Family Floater health insurance policy. The package gives an insurance cover from Rs 2,00,000 up to Rs 50,00,000.Some of the benefits of this plan is mentioned below.
– This policy covers pre as well post hospitalization expenses due to sickness or accident of an insured individual.
– You are also entitled to avail cumulative bonus if no claim has been made.
– You can get Income Tax rebate under sec 80D of Income Tax Act.
– Insured individuals can make cashless claim from over 4800+ network hospitals in India.
– You are also entitled to a health check up at the end of four no claim years.
– Emergency ambulance services up to Rs 2000 can be also be reimbursed.
Religare Health Insurance
Religare Health Insurance is jointly held by Religare Enterprises Limited, Corporation Bank and Union Bank of India. They have started off in 2012 and in this short time have managed to win the trust of the people with their good plans. Care is the health policy introduced by them and it offers treatment procedures in any of the 4000+network hospitals.
Some of the policy highlights
– It gives a coverage of Rs. 3,00,000 to Rs. 6,00,0000 depending on the policy.
– The insurance allows you to opt for an individual plan or a family floater option. In the individual plan the minimum age is 5 years and there is no maximum limit. For family floater the minimum age is 3 months and there is no maximum limit. But the number of members is limited to 2 adults and 4 children.
– The plan covers 30 days pre hospitalization expenses and 60 days post hospitalization expenses.
– This policy also allows free health checkup as well some listed tests even though claims have been made.
– You can avail ambulance services from Rs 750 to Rs 3000 depending on the sum insured.
National Insurance
National insurance started its operation in 1906 and is a government owned insurance company. Some of their insurance plans include Parivar Mediclaim (family), National Mediclaim (hospitalization expenses), and Oversea Mediclaim (travel emergencies). The Varishta Mediclaim is a popular policy for elderly citizens.
The National Parivar Mediclaim is popular one among their products and here are their features.
– All pre and post hospitalization expenses are covered in this policy. This includes allopathy, Ayurveda and homeopathy.
– Maternity expenses are covered under this plan.
– Ambulance expenses upto 1000 is covered.
– Critical illness benefit of INR 2,00,000/ 3,00,000/5,00,000/10,00,000 in addition to the SI.
– Health checkup incentive benefit up to 5000 after 4 years of no claims made.
– You can also benefit tax benefit under sec 80D of Income Tax Act.
SBI Life Insurance
The SBI Life Insurance came into being after the merging of SBI with the BNP Paribas Cardif. SBI being a leader in the banking sector has also managed to win the trust of the customers. Their Smart Health Insurance promises to be a good investment and offers numerous benefits too. The plan has been formulated keeping in mind the increasing expenses of health and hospital bills in the current times. The policy covers hospitalization expenses, surgeries, recuperating expenses and more.
Here are basic features of the plan..
– Smart Health Insurance offers fixed benefits on hospitalization as well surgical expenses. You can make a claim on the all surgical expenses even if they are non-listed surgeries too.
– The recuperation benefit also helps to cover post hospitalization benefits.
– The premium for this policy does not change for the first five years.
– You get a tax benefit under sec 80D of Income Tax Act.
– You can also avail bonus if you have made a claim in the previous year
– Minimum age of entry is 18 years and maximum is 65 years. The maximum age of renewal is 65 years.
– You have options to include all the members of the family in this plan.
ICICI Lombard
ICICI Lombard has become a prominent name in the insurance field and has given a quite a good competition for their peers. It is a joint venture between ICICI Bank and Lombard Canada Ltd which is a leading financial provider. Some of their plans include ICICI Complete Health Insurance, Health Care Plus, Personal Protect, ICICI Lombard Health Advantage Plus. Their reimbursement is done in three steps mainly Reimbursement process, Cashless Emergency process and Cashless Planned process.
Reimbursement process: Here the patients will accumulate all the expenses incurred in the hospital with supporting bills. Subsequently after checking its authenticity the amount will be reimbursed to the patient.
Cashless Emergency process: Here the hospitalization expenses are settled by the insurer and the hospital. This is applicable only to the listed hospitals that come under the ICICI Lombard scheme.
Cashless Planned process: Here you have to inform the insurer two days before hospitalization to avail the benefits of cashless planned process.
The ICICI complete health care plan can be opted for the individual or as a family. They have coverage options and you can add critical illness package along with basic plan.
– The plan gives insurance cover for individual or as a family with a maximum of four individuals.
– The entry age is 5 and the maximum is 65. Here the renewability is lifetime.
– Any one member of the family can get health check up upon policy renewal.
– You can also benefit tax benefit under sec 80D of Income Tax Act.
– Pre Existing diseases will only be covered after 4 years of renewing of policy.
Reliance Health Insurance
Reliance Health Insurance offers one of the most affordable insurance for all. The brand name speaks for itself and they have managed to be the one of the top players in the insurance field industry. Some of their products include HealthGain, HealthWise and Wellness are the Health Insurance Plans offered by Reliance. These plans focus on providing a lump sum cash irrespective of the charges incurred in hospitals. So you don’t have to break your saving at the time of emergency and this will give you more financial stability.
Reliance Health gain is an interesting plans and allows you to secure you and your families health. Some of the highlights of this plan include
– It is one of the most affordable plan starting at Rs 15 per day.
– You can choose an individual plan or a family floater plan as per your choice.
– You can insure your immediate or extended family member under individual policy.
– Avail 5% discount for single women or girl child.
– Get income tax benefit up to 35000 under sec 80D of Income Tax Act.
– Get cashless hospitalization benefits from over 4000+network hospitals.
– You can be assured of quick and hassle-free claims settlement.
Oriental Insurance
Oriental Insurance is a public sector company that covers both large scale insurance as well as small rural insurance covers. They have health plans for individual mediclaim policy, universal health insurance and family floater plan. Of all these policies the family floater plan is the popular one and has numerous benefits for the insured.
Some of the highlights of the family floater include
– The family floater policy covers the individual as well the family of the insured.
– It covers hospitalization expenses for illness s well as accident expenses involved.
– There is copayment clause of 10% in this policy.
– Insurance cover for silver plan is 1 lakh-5laks while gold plan offers 6 lakhs to 10 lakhs.
– Ambulance expenses up to 2000 is offered depending on the plan.
– The gold plan has additional benefits including daily allowance, attendant allowance up to a certain limit.
– Pre Existing diseases will be covered after a period of 4 years of continuous renewal.
– You can also benefit tax benefit under sec 80D of Income Tax Act.
So, there you have it. Some of the best health insurance companies in India and their recommended plans. Which one are you looking for? Let me know in comments.
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