Best Mediclaim Policy / Health insurance plan in India
We do not know when a medical emergency would occur and we may need to spend huge money. Hence, Mediclaim Policy or health insurance plan would play an important role in our lives. While there are several mediclaim policies in India, every product has its own positives and negatives. But there are a few parameters which you can verify before considering mediclaim policy or health insurance plan. In this article, I would discuss about choosing best mediclaim policy in India, some of the best policies and their main features.
How to select a best mediclaim policy / health insurance plan in India
a) Enhanced Features: When you choose a mediclaim policy, you should consider its main features. There are several mediclaim policies which cover several features like pre and post hospitalization expenses, quick processing of cashless claims, cash benefits, day care procedures , etc. The more the features, the better is the health insurance plan.
b) How it ranks in Customer Support: One of the main feature is about its customer support service. What is the use to buy a good mediclaim policy, when there is a bad customer support service. One should give due importance to this. Last month when I was looking at getting a policy plan and tried HDFC Life for more than 10 times. Every time they said they are recording my request and acknowledging, but it took more than 60 days time for me to take a decision and move to another insurance company. To consider taking a policy if I need to wait for more than 60 days, just imagine, when I am not in trouble or when I am not there, how my family has to suffer.
c) Does it offer a health insurance plan for low premium: This could be another important feature to consider before taking mediclaim policy. If similar products are available in the market at lower cost, what is the point in buying at high prices ?
I have analyzed major mediclaim policies and shortlisted a few of them based on these 3 parameters. I am providing only main features.
5 Best Mediclaim Policies in India
1) Apollo Munich Easy Health Family Floater
- This health care plan offers for 2, 3, 4 and 5 year tenure.
- This plan offers in-patient treatment, pre hospitalization and post hospitalization expenses. This also covers several day care procedures, organ donor expenses and so on
- If you subscribe for 2 years, you would get a discount of Rs 7.5%.
- For 2 adults (18-34 yrs) and 2 kids (0-16 yrs), the premium works out to be Rs 7,787 per annum.
- For 2 adults (18-34 yrs) and 2 kids (0-16 yrs) with additional coverage for critical illness, the premium works out to be Rs 9,497 per annum.
2) Apollo Munich Optima Restore
This mediclaim policy offers the following unique benefits.
- Restore benefit: Sum insured exhausted during any year would be automatically enhanced by 100% without additional premiums.
- Multiple benefits: In case of any free claim year, the sum insured would be enhanced by 50% in 1st year. In case of free claim for 2nd year, the sum insured would be enhanced by 100%.
- Detailed analysis about Apollo Munich Optima Restore mediclaim policy can be read here
3) Bajaj Allianz Health Ensure
- This health care insurance plan covers pre-existing diseases after 2 years continuous renewals.
- Flat 2% expenses paid for pre and post hospitalization expenses
- Non network hospitals settlement within 14 days
- No medical tests up to 55 years
- 130 day care procedure coverage
- Family discount of 5%
- Renewals up to 75 years
- Sum insured for Rs 50,000, Rs 75,000 and Rs 1 Lakh.
4) L&T Medisure Classic
- Entry and renewals at any age
- Assured claim service assurance within 6 hours for cashless decisions or pay Rs 1,000 fixed penalty. In case of non working hours, the maximum waiting period would be 8 hours else penalty would be paid to you.
- Maternity expenses coverage after 4 years
- Covers ayurvedic treatment expenses
- Pre-existing diseases coverage after 3 years continuous renewals.
- Additional coverage for hospital cash, ambulance charges and homeopathic treatment.
- A discount of 5% if you take 2 year policy.
5) United India Health Insure Policy-Platinum
- This policy aims to provide pre and post hospitalization expenses.
- Entry up to 35 years of age only
- Covers non-allopathic treatment
- Sub limits on room rent and ICU charges
- Sum insured is from Rs 1 Lakh to Rs 10 Lakhs
- Family discount of 5% is applicable
Conclusion: I felt these are some of the best mediclaim policies in India which one can consider taking it after going through all the features and selecting the one which is suitable to you. As indicated, these are picked up based on service levels, features and low premiums compared to its competitors under similar products.
I would love to hear from you in case you have considered above health insurance plans. What are your personal experiences?
If you enjoyed this article, share it with your friends and colleagues through Facebook and Twitter.
Suresh
Best Mediclaim Policy / Health insurance plan in India
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Hello Sir I’m Bharat working in pvt sector I’m very confused to choose a good mediclaim policy. In my family 3 member me my wife and my 16 month old daughter. My age is 28. Please help me to choose a good policy.
Hello Sir,
I am 37 years male..having two kids. How are Cigna TTK policies..in terms of Claim Settlements & features.
I am58 years old and retired from service. Can you help me to choose best insurance policy for my family.
Subi, You can consider a family floater policy like Apollo Munich Easy Health family floater or Apollo Munch Optima Restore.
Sir, my father suffers from multiple myeloma – a type of cancer inthe bone marrow. the expenses are draining us as he is not insured in any way. can u suggest any plan for me that can cover his day care expenses. your reply will be highly appreciated. regards,megha
hi Suresh,
Iam 36 yrs old, my wife 31 yrs.we are blessed with twin babies 2 months old. please advice a best health insurance plan for our whole family for 3 Lakhs to 5 Lakhs. waiting for ur reply. thanks.
Murugan, You can consider any of these plans indicated in this article based on the features listed.
Hi ,suresh first of all I would like to extend my thanks to you ,for adding value to persons life, and with same I would like to share, that my company is already giving mediclaim benefit to me and my family (wife nd child) With coverage 10 times of basic ,now looking at exemption of health insurence premium to Rs 25000 , what should I take benefit of this exemption
Hello,
Can you please let me know which are the best Health Insurance Plans currently in the market? I am a family of 4 (myself + wife + mother and father (both are Senior Citizens)
Thanks
Hi,
My name is pritesh pramod, I am 28 years old. I want to buy mediclaim policy for me(28 Years) My Mother(58Years), My Dad(66 Years). I will prefer the sum insured amount upto 1.5 lacs. Please guide me for the best mediclaim policy with less premium.
Dear sir, my age is 37, my wife age is 32 & my son is 4 year old. Pls suggest family floater health policy, looking for life time renewal.
Presently, we all are healthy (no pre existing), I’m looking for 5 lac policy. Pls suggest.
Also, want to buy a health policy for my dad who is 66 year old & diabetic. Mother is 57 year old & diabetic. Pls suggest a policy
I am 54 & my wife 50. I want to buy mediclaim policy of 3 lakh for lifelong renewal. I am not able to understand LIC health plus/Jeevan arogya vs any like L&T mediclaim. Suggest which shall I buy.
Avinash, The ones indicated in this article, all are good. You can consider any of them depending on the features that suits you.
You have asked LIC’s Jeevan Arogya, according to me if you have a normal mediclaim policy and then if you take a Jeevan Arogya
would be damn good as you can claim for the same hospitalisation with two co.which I mean to say a normal mediclaim plus LIC’s Health policy as per the daily cash benefit you have opted for. This would be an additional benefit for you.
Hi my self ami my age is 27 my husband 26 and my daughter 2.5 Month i want to know best policy for my small family.
Hi ami v kakkar
You can compare best Policy Click here http://www.policyadvisor.in/health-insurance-policy & Get Your Free Quotes Now!
Hi,
My name is pritesh Gajjan, I am 28 years old . I want to buy mediclaim policy for me(28 Years), My Mother(55 Years), My Dad(59 Years). I will prefer the sum insured amount upto 1.5 lacs. Please guide me for the best mediclaim policy with less premium.
Till now I was using New India Assurance's mediclaim Policy, but last year they rejected my claim and my company's insurance company had accepted the same claim. That's why I do not want to continue with New India Assurance anymore.
Please guide me.
Hi Suresh,
I am 25 year of age & as I am 25 I am not going to consider in my fathers medical policy he is having.My fiance has a medical policy from her company which will cover me also after marriage. So I am confused now should I buy a personal insurance or family floater plans.
Please guide me.
P.S. I am getting married on this December
Advance wishes Sanket. Ideally, I prefer you to buy a family floater health insurance even though after your marriage, your name might be included.
Hello Suresh,
Thanks for your post. Really helpful. Suggest me mediclaim policy for me(male:24) and my mom(47yrs).
Thanks.
Pls check this article and consider the one suitable to you. https://myinvestmentideas.com/2013/11/best-mediclaim-policy-health-insurance-plan-in-india/
I am confused want to take mediclame policy for me age 41 spouse age 32 child age 11 & 12 pl suggest me
It depends on your requirement. Consider Apollo optimi restore or Star health insurance.
Hi,
I hvae gone through 2 policies for my father that seem good to me – Star Medi Classic and LnT Medisure Classic. I notice that there are a lot of exlusions in LnT policy for the first few years and that is a little scary to me. My father is 59 years old and is not suffering from any disease. Please suggest the best policy.
Thanks
Rakesh
Rakesh, You can consider Star medi classic in such case. Apollo Munich and United health insurance are good ones.
Dear Suresh,
i am looking for a cover for my mom dad and brother. their age is 53, 51 and 26 respectiverly. when i researched i got confused with a lot of options and lot of terminologies. My inclination is to go for star health floater for mom and dad and an individual policy for my brother. Would really like your valuable opinion on the same. please suggest if i am making the right choice or suggest what else should i research about the companies.
Hi Hitesh, There are several policies, however each one has some or other unique features. You can consider max bupa, star health insurance where family floater is there where your parents and brother can be covered in single policy. Talk to them
Hi Suresh.
Thank you for this wonderful article.
I am looking for a health insurance policy of cover of around 2-3 L. I am a 27 Year old bachelor. What I want is all the features mentioned under Priyanka's comment. Eventually I would like to convert this to a family floater plan covering spouse and kids further on. Who is the best insurance provider right now in this respect ? Can you suggest ? You can even suggest top 3 in order. I do not mind a slight increase in premium as long as service is good. I will be buying the policies online and I live in bangalore. Thanks in advance for all your help !
Regards,
Nithin.
Nithin, Please check the article, I have given top plans with features. You can pick any one that suits you.
Hi Suresh – This is really very helpful article. I am looking for health/mediclaim insurance for self and spouse. My age is 30 and spouse's age is 28. I tried to list down my priorities for health insurance – 1) Lifetime renewal, 2) No claim based loading, 3) No co-payment, 4)auto restore insured sum, 5) free health check-up every year and 6) Good claim settlement ratio.
CIGNA TTK – I came across Cigna TTK (they recently got approval from IRDA) plan and features are good except claim settlement ration as they are new in the indian market and not sure how they will perform. Cigna is good in US market.
RELIGARE – Religare has also good feature but claim settlement ratio is not good.
LIC – There is no online material for LIC.
ICICI – Online review is not good specifically renewal premimum amount and more hidden charges.
Can you please help me with health insurance?
Hi Priyank, Have you checked start health insurance and Apollo munich medicla insurance. They are some of the good health insurance
Dear Suresh,
I m little bit confused between star and apollo munich health insurance i want to take 5 lacs mediclaim for my family self+spouse+2 child. Kindly help which one is better in term of claim settelement and product wise.
Hi Krunal, Both are good. I would personaly prefer Apollo Munich health insurance.
Hi, suresh
I want to by the mediclaim policy for family. as per communication with the policy bazar, they are suggesting me the Apollo for mi, spouse & child (Rs. 8436) of 3 lakh sum aassured . also they suggested me the L&T INSURANCE (Rs. 16115) of 3 lakh sum assured for my parrents only, of age aroud 58 years .
there is also policy from LIC (jeevan Arogya) but i not able to get the EMI of this policy.
please suggest me which is best for me & my parents.
Thank you.
Vishal, Apollo munich is good. They have several good features. Thought LIC is trustable, you need to invest time to consider such policies. To this extent, you face challenge, otherwise you can go for LIC health care policy.
Hi Suresh,
Many public sector banks have tied up with insurance companies for health insurance for the account holders with family. There are much cheaper than the regular policies.
I came across the below article which seems to be very useful.
http://www.gettingyourich.com/1/post/2012/11/why-health-insurance-offered-by-nationalized-banks-is-an-attractive-option.html
Arun
Yes Arun. However they come up with less features. This is what I have seen.
Dear Suresh,
Kindly help me with an answer on the following query:
Which is a better option- To go for a family floater with coverage for self + wife + parents or separate policies for self + wife & parents. My age is 31 years, my wife is 27 years old and my parents are 58 years & 53 years of age. Also, kindly suggest best plan for the option you recommend. Ideally, I would want a plan which covers pre existing diseases in shortest possible span of time.
Thanking you in anticipation of a prompt response.
Regards,
Nilesh, If you take specific policies for your parents, it would cost you very high. You should go for family floater covering all your family members.Regd pre-existing diseases, every insurance company is putting a clause about waiting period of atleast 1-2 years. I have analysed a few in this article and based on your requirement you can go for one.
Dear Suresh,
Thanks a lot for your valuable insights.
Kindly guide on an ideal mix between Term Insurance, Medical Insurance & Health Insurance. I am already having a term insurance worth Rs. 50 lacs with riders for critical illness & accidental death. I also have a group mediclaim of Rs. 3 lacs for self & parents from my employer.
Kindly suggest what else I should opt for to cover contingencies like death, critical illness, accident, medical emergencies, etc for self & parents.
Thanking in anticipation of a prompt response.
Regards,
Nilesh, there is no ideal mix. It depends on individual requirement. e.g. If one has monthly expenses of Rs 30K per month at age of 30. His expectation would be that his family should survive for 20 years peacefully with this amount. Means approx Rs 72 Lakhs is needed. This could be one criteria. You can compute similar way based on your requirement. regd medical insurance, I feel one should have in between Rs 5 Lakhs to Rs 10 Lakhs. There is no hard and fast rule. Any normal surgery costs you Rs 3 Lakhs to Rs 5 Lakhs easily, hence I felt such coverage would help
Hi Suresh, could you please comment about Religare medical insurance policy.Is it good to go with?.
thanks.
Hi Jey, As indicated in my other comment, Religare is new private insurer in last 1-2 years. We need to wait and see about the company service. I personally do not prefer to consider such policies.
Hello Suresh,
Thanks for providing helpful knowledge to everyone.
I was looking for a Mediclaim policy and Term Insurance. Please suggest some good mediclaim policy. I am 24 years old. My salary is 5 lacs/annum.
Ankit, The ones which are listed here are top mediclaim policies. You can review and consider them. regd term insurance plans, I am writing top plans next week, pls wait for my analysis
`i was planning for family flotter for me, wife and 2kids of 2.5 lakhs from new india assurance-per annum is 8100–
recently my freind told me about religare medicalim how is it any idea found cheaper,and how is claim ratio
Hi Suryaban, Religare has recently launched mediclaim. Price and features look ok, but service levels are yet to be determined. You should wait and watch before considering any new products.
thanks suresh
why i was thinking cause newindia provide max is 8 lakhs-and religare have more than this.
till when i can wait for religare
Suryabhan, there is no thumb rule here. We need to watch 1-2 years for such new insurance companies.
Dear Suresh,
Thanks for your valuable article on Healthe Insurance policies. You have mentioned some policy providers in your article. Among these, Appollo Munich is the only provider who is looking only Health insurance products. Other service providers having diversified products like general health, motor insurance etc. So, Appollo Munich will provide the products with extra care, I suppose. Apart from Appollo Munich, Max Bupa and Star Health insurance are also focusing only on Health products. But I have no idea about their service level and other things. Pls let us know if you have any info on these 2 service providers.
Thanks
Ravi N
Thanks Ravi. I agree that these are specialised in such health care services. However premiums are high compared to other schemes. Yes if we want good quality services, we might be willing to pay more, but the ones which I indicatd are low premium policies compared to similar products with other insurance companies. I heard Maxbupa and Start health are good.
Dear Brother,
Hope All Well at your end !
Please suggest best term insurance.
I don't have any insurance !
My age is 45 yrs.
I am married with one son , age 9 yrs.
I am salaried person, salary 20k.
Kindly advice for what amount of term insurance and which one is a good one ?
Thanks a lot.
God Bless You !
Best Regards – Kaushal
Kaushil, When it comes to life insurance, you should check first point is about settlement ratio (number of settlements done by insurance company against claims). High settlement ratio is there for LIC, HDFC and ICICI. You can consider taking LIC term insurance or ICICI I care term insurance. I felt HDFC life customer care is not that good as I had bitter experience in the last 2 months.
Hi Suresh,
The information that you provide in myinvestmentideas is very helpful. Can you please post an article on best health insurance plans for Sr. Citizens (Above 65 yrs.).
Thanks,
Venkatesh.
Venkatesh, Thanks for your appreciation. I have already written an article about best health insurance plans for parents, please check and let me know in case this is useful. https://myinvestmentideas.com/2013/02/top-health-insurance-plans-in-india-for-parents-senior-citizens/
Suresh sir, can you suggest me best mediclaim policy which provides cash less facility.
Sanket, All these provides cashless facility along with other features. Looks at them and consider taking one that fits your requirement
Hi Suresh
Brilliant article. I have mediclaim insurance for 10 lakhs with United India Insurance for 15 lac. My mother, father and sister are also having separate mediclaim policies with United India Insurance.
Also, since I have not claimed any amount since 20 years they offer me 10% discount on premium. My father had 2 operations in two years – angioplasty in first year and bypass surgery the next year. All expenses were claimed through united india insurance and whole of the expense was reimbursed by them without any trouble. Their TPA is MediAssist. Would advice everyone to enroll for United India Insurance. I think PSU insurance companies are better than private insurance companies in terms of settlement ratio.
One factor which you should definitely consider before selecting any insurance policy should be "claim settlement ratio" which is released by IRDA every year, which gives an idea how good the company is in paying back money to insured.
Lastly, could you please do a quick analysis on term insurance and advice which insurance company would be apt for INR 1 cr term insurance? I am contemplating between HDFC click 2 protect and SBI E-shield. But now since you have mentioned about horrible service of HDFC, I am in double mind which to choose? If not above two which other term insurance would you advice?
Thanks
Zubin
Zubin, Settlement ratio comes first to my mind for life insurance. It should be in the order of LIC, HDFC, ICICI etc. Since I have taken LIC Term insurance, I preferred to take HDFC. The third option I felt was ICICI Term insurance plan and considered this plan two weeks back.
Good article Suresh.
Suresh,
Any policy which has sub-limits or limits on renewal age can't be considered as a desuravle policy esp. when there are options available. So I would differ on your choice of the policies from United India (sub-limits) and Bajaj Allianz (renewal limit). Instead u can look at Bharti Axa's Smart Health and Oriental Insurance's Family floater which don't have the above resttrictions.
Thanks Dinesh for you valuable feedback. I agree about Unitech India sub limits, but I have also considered several other factors which are favorable. I agree this is a limitation, hence I specified here. Regd Bajaj Allianz, I could not understand your question. Pls clarify?
Dear Suresh,
Thanks for providing helpful knowledge to everyone.
I have started Rs.2000/= as a SIP, 2years back, view of 5 years investment.
( Rs.1000/= in HDFC TOP 200 FUND – Dividend ) AND ( Rs. 1000/= in RELIANCE REGULAR SAVING FUND – EQUITY PLAN – GROWTH PLAN GROWTH OPTION )
But not so much happy with the same.
Plz suggest what to do ?
Also I want to invest Rs.20,000/= lump sum . Suggest where to invest so that I can get double in 5 yrs OR triple in 7 yrs. ?
I am ready for any risk may be a high risk !
God Bless You !
Thanks & Best Regards-
Kaushal
Kaushal, These funds are good for long term. Since you are viewing for only 5 years period, you are not seeing good returns. You should hold them for 10+ years to see some good returns. If your investment period is only 5 years, invest in balanced funds like ICICI Pru balanced fund or HDFC Balanced fund or TATA Balanced fund. Lump sum you can invest in these funds.
Hi suresh,
I was looking for a faily floater and did some research on my own.
I found that Oriental Insurance is offering one year policy for self and spouse for Rs two lakh coverage for Rs 5,500, which is the cheapest.
IFFCO Tokyo was the next cheapest and was offering it for Rs 7,500.
I haven't considered service quality, which is difficult to measure.
Arun
I agree Arun that we cannot measure service quality. But as a test you can call your customer support and ask for some info. If required, let them call. This way you would see the service quality.
I have a health insurance plan from HDFC ERGO general insurance company. This plan is for 2 years with 4 lacs sum insured for me and my wife. We had a bad experience with HDFC ERGO which happened last month when my wife got admitted to hospital for Dengue fever. She was there in hospital for 5 days and HDFC ERGO did not replyed to any query of hospital on time. We had to stay extra 2 days in the hospital because HDFC ERGO did not confirm our bill on time. When ever you call Customer Care they will say you they are processing it and you will get a confirmation in 2 hrs but it took 2 days to get a confirmation. I thought of paying the expanse on my own but the bill was too high to be paid by self. But one good thing is they have apporved all the expanses what ever the hospital has raised. No sublimit on any thing. But now I am considering to go with ApolloMunich after reading your post. Thanks a lot for guiding people like me.
Agree Sambit, like I said even I had very bad experience with HDFC life where I waited for more than 60 days before moving to some other insurance company